


i'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck

by iwillwalk500miles



Category: RWBY
Genre: (aka she's a motherfucking simp), Alternate Universe - Future, Anti-Faunus Racism (RWBY), F/F, Fluff and Angst, Government, Nobility, Politics, Useless Lesbian Weiss Schnee, Worldbuilding, rich people being rich people, the nobility the military and the elected council, this is like my second attempt at creating a complex government system so be nice, this takes place in an atlas where three different factions are all vying for the same power
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:16:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 35,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24917458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwillwalk500miles/pseuds/iwillwalk500miles
Summary: Before, Weiss finds that General Ironwood's imprisonment of her father is not as strong as he claims. As her suspicions arise, she comes across a plot to reinstate the nobility as a position of political power by one of the founding families of Atlas. Put in a position where she must use the old honor system of favors, she works tirelessly with her reluctant siblings to ensure that her father will not go free of the crimes he committed.After, Weiss has fallen deep into the very pits of Atlesian politics, long since forced into the head position of the SDC with her brother. With the nobility now in viable positions of power, the richest people in Atlas pose a great threat to Mantle. Firmly on the side of Robyn Hill's Elected Council, the SDC attempts to help, unaware of a different threat blooming in both cities.Or;In the middle of a political cesspit, where the slightest mistake could get a person eviscerated, Weiss is entirely too obvious with her love for someone who does not return it.
Relationships: Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Comments: 141
Kudos: 192





	1. you don't have to love me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no one is allowed to complain about original characters, thanks!!
> 
> also, i know i'll probably fail as this fic progresses, but i'm going to make an effort to make sure the chapters are like... only around 5000 words,,,, admittedly, this chapter was much longer but i split it into two to make it easier on myself

[ _Before_ ]

What makes a person honorable?

This is, without a doubt, a very difficult question to answer when considering the vast amount of people this may refer to. 

For some, there is no additional thought needed to properly explain the ‘honor’ of another person. They can easily claim that as long as a person does good, is good—has the potential to be good, doesn’t that make them honorable? Doesn’t that at least give them the potential to be?

For others however, it is not so simple. They see that it is impossible to narrow down a strict code of what’s just and what isn’t. They see that things such as honor are dependent on the individual, that honor is a part of the argument and messy discussion of ethics and morality. 

Atlas used to belong to the first section of people. They’re definition of ‘good’ left much to be desired, but they had a strict code of what was appropriate and what was _not._

It was okay to break bread with your hands, but never to cut it with a knife.

It was okay to not speak your opinion, but it was not to outright lie.

It was okay to hurt people, but never anyone in any stature _above_ your own.

So...

Goodness was relative.

Atlas, for all it had preached of honor and truthfulness, had become something that the traditional people like her grandfather would blanch in horror at. She could imagine his face even now, years upon years after his death, his jaw clenched and soft eyes blazing in the righteous anger he had passed down to her. She supposed that he would be furious, would do anything to ensure that whatever had poisoned his precious Atlas had been properly dealt with.

He'd be happy to know that she was taking it upon herself to do so, though the reasons weren't exactly the fact that she wanted Atlas reinstated with those stuffy traditions that were more offensive than anything else. 

Explaining the Old Atlesain honor code to Sun was much harder than expected, but she’d managed.

“So,” He began, furrowing his brow and placing a hand against his chin. “This is all racist, sexist bullshit?”

Weiss snorted, stirring her coffee absentmindedly and smiling over at him through the video call. “For the most part.” 

It was only hours before her father’s formal incarceration, only hours until her remaining family members and their allies dug up every favor they had in an effort to make the sentence stick. She had been surprised that Whitley had agreed to testify against their father with her, and though he did not warm to her exactly he was not as hostile as he had once been.

“So then why does it matter in this case?” He asked, looking confused. “If it’s got nothing to do with... well, the law.”

“As much as my father tried, he did not succeed at disposing the code that was integral to the founding of this city.”

“Wait, he tried to get rid of it?” Sun asked, aghast. “He’s an _asshole_ , why would he do that?”

“Because the code included things that hindered his success in the SDC—his low birth meant the nobles didn’t respect him, the silly ‘honesty is the best policy’ section was stupid to him, and he couldn’t claim any formal titles.” She smiled, a little cold. “For all its flaws, the code ensured that his rise to power depended purely on money, and that all he’d ever be referred to was ‘Willow Schnee’s husband’ or ‘Nicholas Schnee’s son-in-law.’”

Honestly, it was kind of terrible, but her father had deserved all that and more so she wasn’t too hung up on it.

“And that means?” Sun pressed.

“Father has no favors to cash in.” Weiss explained. “He never bothered to accumulate any of them, well, any _big_ ones that had the power to get him out of something like this. Because he never played the game, he doesn’t benefit from the players.”

“But you did?” Sun asked, looking thoughtful.

“Of course.” Weiss said, “Despite the despicable origins of the code, it ensured that I had at least one advantage over my father, and made it easier for me to rebel against him.” She smiled, “How do you think I convinced the pilots and drivers in my father's pocket to keep silent for me?”

“I guessed that you paid them.” Sun admitted, a tad sheepish.

“With what money?” She laughed bitterly, “Anything I gave them had my father’s name firmly stamped on it.”

“So favors?”

“Favors.” Weiss’ smile faltered. “I’m not proud of it exactly, because most favors and boons usually require blackmail, but it made it so I could escape.”

“Only to come right back.” Sun noted.

“Only to come right back.” She agreed.

He watched her for a moment, a pensive look on his face. Talking with him made the constant ache in her chest and shoulders simmer, the sight of his familiar eyes and the curve of his lips making it all too easy to forget where she was.

That was dangerous for her, especially now.

“I’m going to get a law degree and fuck Atlas up for you.” Sun said conversationally. “I’m going to do it.”

“I look forward to it.” She said, a smile on her face, and decided not to mention that if things didn’t seriously change he’d make no impact on Atlas at all.

* * *

[ _After_ ]

“And where is your head today, Sister?” Whitley asked her, adjusting his collar and straightening his red tie. “Usually speaking of the political misfortune of others brings nothing but a jovial smile to your face.” He paused, laughing to himself. “Well, any type of misfortune of others brings a smile to your face.”

“Honestly, you make me sound like a monster.” She huffed, turning away. She had been thinking of Ruby. It had been at least a year since they’d seen each other face to face, and though they made sure to call each other once a month those conversations between them were growing increasingly shorter. 

(That day was the first time Ruby ever missed a call.)

“Is that not what you are?” He asked her, feigning surprise. “Why, darling sister, I have the most dreadful news to break to you.”

“Funny.” She huffed.

Whitley paused. “What’s the problem?”

“It’s nothing of substance.” Weiss replied easily as she eyed herself in the mirror, putting on the red teardrop earrings that Whitley had insisted she wear. 

“It’s always of substance to me.” Whitley replied, pausing over his silver snowflake cufflinks.

He enjoyed his color coordination, her brother. It wasn’t something she minded indulging him in, they _were_ the last Schnees affiliated in the SDC after all. Matching helped present a united front, and it was good that they did—Atlesians were _sharks_ when it came to these things, a hint of desynchronization between them and they’d be on them both like dogs with a bone. Or, if she was continuing with the shark metaphor, if they were to smell blood in the water they wouldn’t hesitate to try and tear them to pieces. They’d have a hard time doing it, of course, but it never hurt to be cautious.

Weiss laughed, “I’m sure—help me with my hair piece?” Parts of her hair were braided back around her head like a crown, the rest falling in gentle waves at her back. Her bangs had been combed backward, not doing anything to hide her face or scar. 

Whitley scoffed, but moved forward to help with little more than an exasperated, “ _Honestly_.” 

She smiled at him as he did her hair, when he finally finished she admired the small ruby engraved crown with a smile before turning to face him. “Do you want me to help with yours?”

He pursed his lips, considering.

“I know how to make you look less like a repressed thirteen year old.” She pointed out.

“As long as you don’t make me look like a young father.” He agreed immediately.

Weiss wrinkled her nose. “Don’t even joke about that.”

Whitley shot her a too sweet smile, leaning down so she could do his hair. He’d grown taller than her by a great margin, something that she had become begrudgingly used to. She hummed, grasping his hair brush and sweeping back his pale hair, careful to make sure that it waved a little to the left, and grinned when his cowlick stayed stubbornly jutting from his scalp.

“Not one word.” He said as he slipped on his blazer.

“Don’t know what you mean.” She teased, and leaned down to adjust her heels.

“Shall we, Sister?” Whitley asked, opening up the door to the large bathroom they had both finished getting ready in. 

They usually got dressed and moved to a large bathroom to put on accessories and makeup, they used the time together to go over what would happen with each other. They always made sure that they had a possible answer for anything that they might be asked, or they went over what they planned for the evening to make sure that one didn’t impede the other’s progress and that they were on the same page. It took some coordination and genuine effort, but they managed—no matter how tiring it was.

“I suppose.” She sighed, adjusting her bangs once more and moving to leave. Weiss grinned up at him, licking her thumb and reaching to wipe away a bit of a smudge off of his face.

“ _Weiss_ —!” He protested, squirming to get away.

“It’s not my fault you still eat like a child.” She sang, darting away before he could get any revenge. 

He grumbled a bit but didn’t try anything.

As expected, the fundraiser was a grand hit. Guests would walk in and be greeted and directed toward the Schnee’s main hall where a large band would play classical music—and they would either mingle with other guests, partake in dances, or eat and drink what the waiters were serving. 

Whitley and Weiss made their entrance as they always did, arm and arm with calculated movements, ignoring the penetrating or less than appropriate stares they both received and keeping their expressions easy and open. They were however, sure to make it so that even though the guests felt they could approach them, the masks in place were cold or aloof enough for them to not get over familiar. 

“The Marigolds made it.” Whitley told her from the corner of his mouth.

“Which ones.” Weiss asked, her serene smile going a little strained. No one but her brother noticed. 

“Henry and May Marigold.” He jerked his chin slightly to where they were standing, Henry holding a drink and scowling darkly while May glared at him. “Neither of them like me very much—Henry knows I’m better than him and May doesn’t trust me—so you’re going to have to go and defuse them before Dowager Lane makes a fuss.”

Sure enough, the old widow was slowly starting to edge closer to the two, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. 

“Why are the Marigolds even here?” Weiss grumbled to herself, handing Whitley the glass of champagne that she’d been holding for the aesthetic and not much else. “I know that May despises events such as these, and Henry should know better than to come back by now.”

Whitley pursed his lips. “Likely Lord Marigold is testing the waters, seeing if he can sneak his grandchildren here and have them do business for him, make contacts, gather dirt, achieve boons, ect.” 

Weiss snorted. “They won’t be very successful, May won’t play into it and Henry isn’t subtle enough for it.”

“Yes well, Lord Marigold is desperate—his grandson is an imbecile and his granddaughter is a more successful version of your teen angst.” Whitley pointed out, making Weiss roll her eyes. “Not to mention the fact that MAC is starting to run out of business, you know that don’t you? We’ve bought a fifth of their stocks.”

The Marigold Art Company wasn’t actually as low as Whitley had made them sound, but it was true that the SDC owned a great deal of their shares. That’s why it made no sense that Henry and May were here, if Lord Marigold truly wanted to bridge the gap between them and him he would’ve showed up himself. It was most likely that Whitley was right, perhaps the old man wanted his grandchildren to buck up and take on the family business.

Her lips twitched downward at the thought.

“I best get going.” She said, removing her arm from her brother. “Remember not to—”

“—antagonize anyone, yes _I know_ , Sister.” Whitley rolled his eyes. “Honestly I should be telling that to _you_.”

Weiss barely managed to rein in the desire to cuff the back of his head. “Yes, well.” She grimaced, “I’m off.”

“Have fun!” Whitley cooed cheerfully.

Weiss sighed, schooling her expression and making her way over to where Henry and May were exchanging obviously angry words. She made her way over, and those who had been paying enough attention hurried to get out of her way—nearly jumping over themselves to clear a path. 

A smile curled her lips. Sometimes, the consequences of her name were more amusing than terrible. 

She met May’s eyes over her cousin’s shoulder, flashing her a slightly more genuine grin. “Ah, hello there May.” And then with clear disdain, “Mr. Marigold.”

May snorted.

“Lady Schnee, what an absolute _pleasure_ to see you.” He smiled blandly, his teeth flashing. His eyes, sparkling with fake happiness, roamed her face for a moment—before his shoulders straightened and he pursed his lips tightly.

He never did like seeing her scar.

“Please, that title belongs to my mother.” Weiss said in a soft tone, though there was no mistaking the warning in her voice. Technically her mother still held the title of ‘Lady’ in nobility, her father had never actually been labeled as ‘Lord’ despite what his wife was, and it annoyed him to no end. It was probably one of the reasons he utterly disregarded many of the Atlesian traditions and ruthlessly destroyed the people who practiced them.

It was almost admirable, the pettiness for all the people that claimed his low birth was a factor in everything he did.

If he wasn’t such a waste of space she might’ve actually been impressed.

“Yes well,” Henry began, interrupting her train of thought, “we all know that you deserve it.” His eyes flickered to where Willow stood, nursing a glass of wine.

A microaggression against her alcoholic mother? How old did he think she was, _ten_? Honestly if he was going to try and bait her he should’ve tried for something _other_ than the obvious.

“Shut the fuck up, Henry.” May interjected before Weiss could do much more than raise an eyebrow.

Weiss blinked, sputtering for a moment. It wasn’t as though her words were unexpected, but they were certainly out of place. She knew that May despised her cousin, that some incident in their youth had tarnished her view of him beyond repair—but that didn’t mean she wasn’t surprised that May was defending her from him on some level. May Marigold was a loyal woman, of course, nothing could say otherwise—but it still took her by surprise that any of that loyalty was in _her._

They got on well, were similar in a lot of areas—but whereas May had decided to change Atlas from the outside in, Weiss strove for change in the inside out. Not many of the nobles really approved of them, but Weiss had the power to back her decisions, and May was a part of Robin’s merry band, and they held the favor of Mantle’s people.

“ _May_.” She chastised, not actually minding much but aware of the fact that she had a role to play.

May rolled her eyes, crossing her arms and fiddling with her blazer as she puffed out her chest a little bit. “Shush, baby Schnee! I’m going to teach my no good cousin a—”

Henry’s expression turned murderous, spinning to face his cousin once more with an almost animalistic snarl. “Oh _please_ , you’re acting like a barbarian. It’s no surprise really, with those hellions you run with—”

“I don’t believe Councillor Hill would appreciate that, Henry Marigold.” Weiss enunciated softly, her back and shoulders straightening. She was beginning to grow tired of him, a feat that wasn’t exactly hard. 

May stilled for a moment at the sound of Henry’s full name, before quickly recovering and shooting him a scowl, crossing her arms. “ _No_. No, she wouldn’t.”

“The council has no real power, I sincerely doubt there will be any real consequences.” Henry stated stiffly, trying his best to sound flippant and unbothered but failing quite badly.

It was a wonder trying to apply logic to the things he was saying. While he was correct with the council having no power over the nobles, they still _did_ have a great deal of sway over the military after General Ironwood. Weiss frowned a bit, whenever he spoke it was clear that he was regurgitating things he must have heard from his older family members, and though that invoked some sympathy, it was really no excuse. May had managed to fight back against the same family that he belonged to, and she had come up a fine person. Henry on the other hand...

Well he was a racist, misogynistic prick—and Weiss was weary to ever truly talk to him about things like politics, or even simple things like the weather. With her luck (and his less than spotless track record) he’d find a way to offend the sun into never _shining_ again.

May bristled, fuming and poking a finger into her cousin’s chest. “You foul, loathsome, little—”

“Perhaps they don’t.” Weiss agreed quietly, making Henry look quite smug. “But you are in the presence of someone who, how shall I put it? _Supports_ them wholeheartedly.”

The look on May’s face went mischievous.

Henry didn’t notice. “May _hardly_ counts—”

“I wasn’t talking about your cousin.” Weiss cut him off easily, looking up at him with intense eyes. He flinched a little, his fingers tightening around his glass ever so slightly as she stared him down. “Have you come here without paying attention to _who_ _exactly_ one of your hosts was?”

Henry’s face paled. “I meant no offence.”

“I’m sure.” Weiss drawled, clasping her gloved hands together and smiling in a way that was obviously fake. “Please don’t make me have to have you escorted off the property, Mr. Marigold...” She paused. “ _Again_.”

He stiffened. “You—”

“Henry.” May said, voice ringing out in clear authority.

He had no standing here, not with his cousin, and certainly not with Weiss. Anything he tried to say in defense would come up short, especially after his fumbling with words earlier.

“Fine.” He spat, losing grip on his composure and stomping off in a different direction. He was the victim of many disapproving glances and scandalized gasps, he would not be getting anywhere with anyone that night.

Weiss watched him leave, satisfaction curving her lips into a slightly smug smile. She turned back to May, noting the suit she wore and taking in her appearance. She looked... appropriate. Her clothing was not as practical as usual, no battle leathers or weapon in sight, though that last one might have been invisible somewhere. 

That’s not to say she didn’t look nice, she did, actually—but Weiss was weary of a May who felt like she had to go back to a world she despised to get a job done.

“Now that he’s gone,” Weiss began, her voice lowering into a harsh whisper, “Why in Remnant are you _here?_ ”

“What do you mean by that?” May asked, pretending to look affronted.

She huffed, rolling her eyes but relaxing a little. If it had been serious May would have said so right away, she was happy there wasn’t a bomb or something hidden underneath one of the statues. “You _despise_ Atlesian politics, everything going on here is enough to give _me_ hives, and this is my party.”

“Fundraiser, not party.” May corrected her, expression darkening just a little. “Did you think Robyn wouldn’t notice?”

Mantle didn’t trust Atlas.

And as much as Robyn may have liked Weiss, she didn’t trust her at all when it came to things like this.

Money.

“I’d hoped.” Weiss admitted with a sigh, running her tongue against the points of her teeth as she tried to rein in the desire to groan. “How is she?”

“Stressed.” May admitted.

“It _has_ been that type of year.” Weiss murmured.

“It’s been that type of _decade._ ” May corrected.

“You aren’t wrong.” Weiss agreed with a soft sigh. She looked up, shooting May a badly hidden hopeful look. “And Penny?”

“A little annoyed at you for not inviting her, but otherwise fine.” May snorted, crossing her arms. Penny fit in well with May and the others, and as the protector of Mantle she and Weiss saw each other often. The woman was wonderful company, endearingly calling her things like ‘friend Weiss’ and ‘pal Weiss’ and even ‘buddy Weiss.’ 

Weiss cared for her dearly, and at this point she was almost as good a friend to her as Sun was. He was pouty about it, of course, but when Penny started spending time with him as well as Weiss he jumped on board quicker than she thought he would.

“I’ll apologize to her as soon as the night is over.” Weiss declared seriously.

“Of course you will.” May sighed, pulling at her blazer. She pursed her lips, looking down at her clothing and sighing.

“You look nice.” Weiss tried, making May snort loudly.

“Honestly, baby Schnee, warn a girl next time—that way I have the chance to complain about it _before_ coming here.” She twitched a little, and for a moment it was easy to see May’s discomfort. 

Weiss watched her a moment, her face slackening as she thought for a moment. 

There was something that she was missing. 

Lord Marigold wouldn’t have allowed May to stand in for him unless she’d been in contact with him. As unlikely as that seemed, it was the only way that she could’ve been at the Schnee Manor in any official capacity, as unfortunate as it was that none of the Elected Council came. They never would, despite the fact that Weiss always sent out invitations, nobody trusted anyone from Atlas—for good reason—and the other nobility were always petty enough to bully them away.

Robyn and her huntresses were probably the only ones who’d stick it out enough to attend, but even they had their limits when it came to stuffy Atlesian bureaucracy. 

She licked at the edges of her teeth, running her tongue across the sharp points and trying not to be too obvious about her thoughts. “Hmm.”

“I know that face, out with it.” May said sternly, crossing her arms and shooting Weiss a look.

There was no avoiding it. “Is your grandfather also one of the reasons you’re here? Other than the fundraiser, of course.”

“Yes.” She said through grit teeth. “I hate these things but it was a good chance to see what the _hell_ you thought you were doing—and that meant sucking up to Grandfather a little bit.”

“I’m sorry.” Weiss said earnestly, expression going pained for a moment.

The look on May’s face softened. She knew exactly the meaning an apology had in Atlas. “You haven’t been down to see Robyn in a while.” She began softly. “Are you avoiding Mantle?” 

Which of course was her (not so) discreet way of making sure that Weiss still had Mantle's best interest in mind.

“No.” It took effort to make sure she didn’t sound aghast.

“Is it because of the code?” May questioned further.

“Of course not!” Weiss snapped immediately. “I was busy planning this.” She gestured to the hall, where wealthy elite and nobles milled about—mingling with representatives from the military and the newly separated Atlas Academy.

James Ironwood had ensured that the two would never be one force again, at least not for a good long while.

“...sorry.” May apologized after a moment. 

“No, I shouldn’t have gotten upset.” Weiss admitted quietly, her expression smoothing out to something a lot more calm. She knew that perhaps apologies didn’t mean the same thing coming from May’s position as they did coming from someone in Weiss’ position, but she appreciated it nonetheless. “I imagine the code might be some of the reasons it’s hard for her to get things done.”

“You don’t know the half of it.” May sighed. “Nearly all of them refuse to do business with her because of her semblance.”

Weiss considered her for a moment, chewing on her lip. “...have you considered getting in touch with Cal—”

“No.” May said immediately. “I’d never let anyone I care about near that woman, that family.” Then she shot Weiss an assessing look, “You’ve been in business with her.”

“She won’t lie.” Weiss pointed out.

“But she won’t tell the truth either.” May said, looking away and crossing her arms. “How you can stomach her is beyond me.”

“She’s an acquired taste.” Weiss admitted. “Perhaps I can—”

“You do too much.” May said.

“Not enough.” She countered.

“Never enough.” May agreed. “But you have to be more careful than this... getting involved with that family, it’s not good news.”

Weiss frowned, May's words of warning had come perhaps a couple of years too late. “Hasn’t she been putting money into Mantle?”

“Can’t trust money like that, baby Schnee.” May said to her, eyes glinting, her expression saying _‘you should know this by now.’_ She huffed after a moment, looking conflicted. “Not even yours.”

Weiss felt a pang, swallowing the lump in her throat and looking away. “I’m not going to keep any that’s been accumulated tonight.”

“I’d respect you less if you did.” She admitted quietly, and when Weiss was looking into her eyes again her expression was softer, almost sad. “Just... I can’t tell you to stop doing what you’re doing, I know that the... I know how messed up your company is right now—how badly you’re trying to fix it.”

“Should’ve known better than to keep a secret from you.” Weiss smiled, the tiniest bit bitter. May would know better than anyone her position, she’d been in the same boat for a while, before she ‘wizened up.’ They had been similar once upon a time, but whereas Weiss had chosen to fix her family, May had chosen to leave and join Mantle—doing what no one had ever done and leaving Atlas for the city beneath it.

It was admirable.

Weiss wished sometimes she’d had the foresight to do the same, even if she knew she never would’ve been entirely satisfied with it.

“Yeah.” May laughed lightly, her expression lightening. “Your butler is gesturing to you, so I better motor.” She gestured to the side, where Klein was indeed trying to wave her down.

His eyes weren’t the usual color.

She had to wrap this up quickly.

“May?” Weiss asked.

“Yes?”

“I’ll come and visit soon.” She reassured, smiling. “Tell Penny I said hello.”

She snorted, “Will do.”

“Oh, and May?” Weiss began as she started to walk away, her voice going louder and attracting the attention of others.

“Yes?” She asked warily.

“ _Thank you._ ” Weiss called smugly over her shoulder, just loud enough for others to hear. Heads immediately snapped to May, looking at her with assessing gazes and curious eyes.

May swore. “Oh you _bitch_ —”

But Weiss was already walking away, a satisfied smile on her face. That should give May a little more leeway with Lord Marigold. Weiss Schnee, owing his granddaughter a favor? He would be sure to treat her nicely after that, and simultaneously make things harder for Henry, who instead of doing as his cousin did and gaining goodwill, had only gained more distaste.

She wondered briefly if doing so had been a bad idea, Whitley would surely be disappointed by the impulsiveness of the decision to grant May Marigold any kind of boon—but that was only because he didn’t trust her. Which, admittedly, was smart of him—even if it only made him a hypocrite when it came to the whole ‘you’re too paranoid’ thing. Either way, Whitley wouldn’t be able to argue the results, people were eyeing the Marigold family differently now, it wasn’t everyday that the Schnee family traded favors with others after all.

And either that would only give them more opportunity to buy more of the company’s stocks, or MAC would blossom a little more—ensuring not only a useful ally but a surge in business that would only help SDC.

Weiss smiled at Klein, silently approaching him—her lips curving even moore when he returned the expression.

“Miss Schnee.” He greeted with a smile, absentmindedly adjusting the empty tray he was holding. “Your brother is entertaining a... _special_ guest just outside the main hall.”

Her smile dropped.

Weiss stilled, her fingers twitching in agitation as the expression on her face became fixed. “Is he?” She glanced around the room, aware of the eyes that would flicker to her every once in a while. She couldn’t just follow Whitley to wherever the problem was, people would notice if a Schnee wasn’t in the room.

“Madam Willow is with the Dowager Lane.” Klein pointed out to her quietly, gesturing a little to where her mother was standing, looking terribly fascinated by whatever the old widow had to say. “I do so believe that is enough time to at least exchange a quick word, don’t you?”

“Yes.” Weiss said after a moment, she took a deep breath and steeled her nerves. She could rip into Whitley for leaving her alone later, but for now they’d only have a couple of minutes before the guests realized neither of them were in the room. “Is Sun needing to be notified?”

He would not appreciate it if Weiss decided to take care of a security threat on her own again.

“No.” Klein’s flickered red before settling, his accent changed into something gruffer. “’S not that kind of surprise.”

She felt herself relax a little at that. If Sun, who often insisted on the fact that he was her personal bodyguard/lawyer, didn’t need to be told it was likely that whatever problem had arisen didn’t need to be handled with anything but words. “Please keep an eye on my mother, Klein.”

“‘course.” He nodded, sending her a surprisingly gentle smile considering the color of his eyes. “Off you go now, love, best not ta keep ‘em waiting.”

Weiss snorted, but obeyed, waving goodbye and moving toward the doorway she knew led to the hall connected to the gardens. It’s the only place Whitley would be comfortable talking to a person one on one while an event was being held, close enough to call for help but secluded enough for privacy. She slipped out, pausing when she heard the muffled sound of raised voices.

It brought back old memories.

A frustrated groan that was obviously Whitley rang out. “I’m telling you that you can’t _be_ here right now—”

“And I’m telling you it’s _important_ —” A familiar voice shot back.

Weiss grimaced, following the voices to one of the powder rooms. She stared at the door for a moment, resolving herself, and pushed open the door. “How many times do I have to tell you not to _antagonize_ anyone—” She froze.

Her brother looked beyond frustrated, his hair slightly mussed in that way that Weiss knew that he had been running his hands through it. His arms were stubbornly pulled down, his fists clenched and his back straight and stiff. Whitley’s eyes were flashing dangerously, and that would already be enough to make Weiss pause—but the guest who he was talking to was enough to make her do more than that.

“Ah.” Whitley said, looking over a cloaked shoulder guiltily and meeting Weiss’ eyes. “Shite.” He leaned backward, his shoulders relaxing at the sight of her. “I thought I told Klein—”

“And he told me.” Weiss said coolly, staring at the back of Ruby’s head and clenching her fists for a moment before relaxing. “You ought to know better than to keep something like this from me by now.”

Whitley moved passed Ruby smoothly, who had yet to turn around, and fiddled with his red tie. “It’s hardly my fault.”

“I’m sure.” Weiss rolled her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. She took a breath, forcing herself to calm down before looking up at Ruby, who was slowly beginning to turn around. “Normally someone _calls_ before they visit, you know.”

It wasn’t the most subtle dig at the fact that Ruby had missed their call, but Weiss had no patience for being inconspicuous at the moment.

Ruby laughed sheepishly, and Weiss could barely hold in the soft, creeping warmth in her chest when she finally turned to face her. She was dressed in slightly tattered hunting gear, her shoulders wrapped in her signature cape and held there by a clasp of silver with her emblem shining red. Weiss wasn’t surprised to find her in a corset, but she was surprised to see the crimson dress shirt baggy at the sleeves—and noticed it was unbuttoned to show off the slope of her neck and a hint of her collarbones. A silver and red belt engraved with roses was slung across her hips, Crescent Rose sitting on it comfortably. Dark pants hugged her legs, worn and sturdy, ending tucked into red trimmed combat boots.

Weiss felt the whole world stop, however, when she met Ruby’s gaze.

There were bloody bandages over the right side of her face.

Suddenly, she understood exactly why Whitley had dragged her away from the rest of the guests.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> before!weiss despises the atlesian traditions but took part in them because her father hated them and she hated her father, though of course she was sure not to participate in the ones she hated the most, because weiss (as much as she wanted to rebel) was unwilling to put her own moral code on the line
> 
> after!weiss is wary of the atlesian traditions, but decided to pick and choose which ones she practices because one it opens doors otherwise left closed, and two she rather likes the whole honesty thing, it makes things easier
> 
> if may marigold is slightly ooc know that i only have what little i remember from the volume (and i barely remember anything rip), a wiki page, and what little people have posted about her online... there have been no happy huntress compilations and it makes me hurt in my very soul


	2. it's your party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the before, Weiss is introduced to the most peculiar woman.
> 
> In the after, Weiss had grown tired of hating the aspects of herself she was better off loving. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all remember unnamed bear faunus from TNIAO? well she has a name now, and good news! she still has her braincells. bad news! she's a bit of a brat

[ _Before_ ]

“I don’t like this.” Ruby said, looking up at the courthouse, expression set.

Weiss sighed, looking down at her scroll. Whitley had sent her a short message, telling her to meet him inside right before the trial started so they could go over what they were going to say. It was clear that he didn’t care what she had in regards of evidence against their father, only that he wanted to make sure she didn’t contradict anything he had to add.

Ruby really wasn’t helping her anxiety.

“Oh you can hardly blame her, Ice Queen.” Yang continued after her sister, shooting Weiss a meaningful look. “Your brother was a real dick to you at that party, wasn’t he?”

“Yang.” Blake chastised her, though she sounded more fond than exasperated.

Weiss resisted the urge to gag, just a little, and shot Ruby a long suffering look. Her partner’s expression didn’t change much, but she could have sworn that she was smiling at the look of pure and utter pain on Weiss’ face. 

“What?” Yang's voice was loud, ringing throughout the open air and effectively broadcasting her indignation, “It’s _true_ —”

“I just don’t understand why we can’t go in there with you.” Blake began, interrupting her partner and placing a steadying hand on Weiss’ shoulder. “You shouldn’t have to face them all alone.”

“I won’t be alone.” She said quietly, gripping her scroll a little tighter.

“Your brother is _hardly_ company—”

“Yang.” Ruby interrupted. “He’s still her brother.”

Yang huffed a little, going quiet but making her displeasure known by crossing her arms and looking pointedly down at her boots.

“A fair point.” Blake said diplomatically, “Still, we should—”

“Respect Weiss’ decision.” Ruby said over her, glowering at the steps of the courthouse. “Even if we don’t like it.”

Yang frowned in confusion, head snapping toward her little sister. “You can’t _honestly_ —”

“It’ll be fine.” Weiss said, voice quiet. “Seeing my Father angry isn’t going to be anything new, Yang.”

That made everyone exchange oddly quiet looks.

Weiss fought the urge to scowl.

Ruby swallowed, her brows furrowing as she looked at her, eyes almost sad. “Weiss—”

“And you all have more important things to do.” Weiss continued, “Don’t you?”

Ruby grimaced, looking away.

“Wait, we can still—” Blake began, but was cut off when Weiss sent her a soft look.

“It’s quite alright.” She said. “And I... I can’t very well leave him alone in there, can I?”

“Your brother—”

“Is only fifteen.” Weiss said firmly. “A bit of an ass, but hardly an evil mastermind.”

Yang snorted, and after a moment let out a reluctant sigh. “Fiiiine.” 

Weiss smiled fondly, and reached up to flick her forehead.

“ _Ow_!” A metal hand went to rub at the spot, and Yang scowled down at her. “Ice Queen what the _fuck_ —”

“Oh _please_ , if you can take Nora’s hammer to the stomach a little flick like that did _not_ hurt you—”

Blake groaned. “Will the two of you stop _bickering_ with each other for two _minutes_ —”

Ruby started to laugh. The sound cuts through the cold air, making everyone pause. It’s such a nice thing to hear, just minutes before she’s set to see the rest of her family, jam packed into the witness area. 

Weiss felt her cheeks color, and she found herself forcing her eyes away. It had been getting more frequent now, those odd bursts of emotion brought upon her by Ruby—she almost wished she didn't understand what they meant.

“We...” Blake eyed her, a knowing glint in her expression. “We better get going, then.”

“Blakey’s right.” Yang agreed, oblivious. 

Weiss grimaced a little, but nodded. “Right.”

Ruby looked at her for a moment. “We can wait for you outside—”

“Go.” Weiss said softly. “Don’t hold back on my account.”

Ruby frowned and looked like she wanted to protest, but said nothing, sighing to herself. She nodded resolutely, and before Weiss could say anything she was pulled into a tight but brief hug. “Be careful.” Ruby murmured before pulling away.

Weiss blinked, the grip she had on her scroll slackening a little. “Of course.”

Ruby nodded, before allowing herself to be tugged away by Yang and Blake.

She watched them leave for a moment, swallowing the sudden nerves in her chest. In their absence it was like the weight of the world had been thrust onto her shoulders once again, a crushing reality that made her knees feel weak and her heart stumble uncertainly. An Atlas in Atlas. Resisting the urge to laugh, she turned, starting her walk up the steps—only to bump into someone. Her scroll slipped from her hands as Weiss, caught off guard, wobbled a little.

Too surprised that she had almost fallen over to do anything but gape, she almost missed what happened next.

“Oh, sorry about that.” A woman placed a steadying hand on her shoulder before bending down and picking up Weiss’ fallen scroll, gesturing it to her. Her eyes crinkled like she was smiling, a mask averting her nose and mouth. It was like she was wearing an exceptionally long turtleneck, covering all of the skin except the area above her eyes. 

The woman was bundled up quite cozily, every inch of her covered in some type of material—long sleeves and gloves that reached just below her elbow, snow boots with sturdy warm looking pants tucked into them. It was sensible for Atlesain weather, but something told Weiss that the cold was not the reason that the woman kept everything about herself covered up.

A huntress of some sort, probably. Definitely not a part of Ironwood's military force, the only white in her clothing was her collared shirt—her clothing was too individual to be a soldier.

“It’s fine, I’m quite alright.” Weiss took back her scroll, managing a shaky smile. She had been effectively snuck up on, something that didn’t happen when around civilians. Only more proof that this woman was not one.

Her eyes crinkled again as gloved hands fiddled with the open collar of her shirt. Instead of folding it down, she popped it up even more, and the white was stark against the dark gray of her mask, the soft brown of her vest, and the green of her hood. The hood itself was interesting enough, it looked like an old cloak, cut short in a way that was showing her shoulders and stopping just below her chest. What caught Weiss’ gaze however, was the golden eye embroidered into the green cloth. 

_Where had she seen that before?_

“Yeah I see that.” The woman remarked, and Weiss noticed two furry bear ears wiggle outside the hood, slits cut into the material to allow for movement. “Still polite to apologize though.” She tilted her head, soft brown eyes crinkling again as a bit of wavy hair falling into her face, “Don’t you agree?”

“Not up here it isn’t.” Weiss remarked, remembering that the woman had apologized. She made sure to say as clearly as possible, “All is forgiven.”

“Ah, thanks for that. No offense or anything but I _really_ can’t owe anyone favors right now.” She laughed out, sheepishly reaching up and rubbing at the back of her neck. "Boss woulda killed me, I swear, she's such a slave driver."

“I very well can’t hold a slip of the tongue against you now can I?” Weiss pointed out diplomatically.

“Most would.” The woman shrugged, stuffing her hands into her pant pockets. “Silver spoons and such.” She started to go in toward the courthouse. 

“Do you need help getting in?” Weiss asked quietly, walking by her side up the steps. 

The woman paused, slowly spinning to face her, brows furrowed. “And why would I need that?” Her tone wasn’t hostile exactly, but certainly annoyed.

“You know how it is here.” Weiss continued. “If you walk in with me they won’t say anything, and if they do I can tell them to shove off.” 

“How awfully presumptuous of you.” She said, raising a brow. Her tone was slightly critical.

Weiss bowed her head apologetically, she couldn't say sorry even though she desperately wanted to. “I’ve come to expect the worst from the people here.”

“Well, that certainly tracks.” The woman began in a conversational tone. “It makes sense _you’d_ get it.” Brown eyes were unflinching. “You know, because you ran away twice? I’m including Beacon, just so you know.”

So the woman _did_ know who she was. Interesting.

“Very funny.” Weiss said, a little annoyed but otherwise unaffected by her words. It’s not like she was entirely wrong, the second time she technically _had_ been running away. “You’re wearing a mask.” She pointed out, “To hide your beauty, I’m sure, but they won’t take it that way.”

“But of course I have to be covered up! If the masses saw my face everyone would lose their head over me!” The woman proclaimed dramatically. “Can’t have that, not on a day like this.”

“A day like this?” Weiss asked hesitantly.

“You know, the snow is pretty, the sun is shining, it’s not so cold I can’t feel my ears—oh! And your father is getting prosecuted for being an all around horrible person.” Her eyes did that smile-crinkle again, and Weiss barely suppressed the urge to groan.

“Should I be surprised that you knew that?” She asked her tersely.

“It would be smarter of you to pretend and keep your cool, but I respect the straightforward approach as much as the next child of Mantle.” The woman shrugged, pausing in front of the courthouse doors.

Weiss rolled her eyes. “So not at all, then?”

“Pfft, you Atlesians, thinking you know _everything_.” Her tone was as relaxed as before, but Weiss could hear the underlining warning.

“I haven’t been in Atlas for quite some time, clearly I must be missing something.” Weiss stated diplomatically, looking up at the woman and just barely managing not to display her confusion.

She may not be very practiced in politics lately, but old habits die hard, and the woman seemed to be hinting at something that Weiss would be better off knowing. Learning just how bad Mantle seemed to have it was something that was _new,_ even if it really shouldn’t have been. If the woman was telling the truth this could be an opportunity to learn, to see what the Atlas Military had been doing to them in depth instead of just hearing scattered criticisms of General Ironwood.

“You mean the time your darling daddy reported you missing?” The woman asked, and there was something about her posture—too obviously loose, too obviously relaxed.

“Yes, and a year and a half before that as well.” Weiss added.

Her brows furrowed. “Weren’t you here for a couple of months?”

Weiss raised a single eyebrow, before sighing. “In body, perhaps.” 

“Pfft.” The woman snorted a little “You’re funny for a pretentious Atlesian.”

“Thank you.” She bowed her head, smiling—before realizing her mistake. Weiss felt stricken, she had just _thanked_ an unknown woman—someone who could easily take advantage of her mistake.

Weiss found herself on the end of critical eyes, the woman looking a mixture between surprise and suspicion. “...was that on purpose?”

“Yes.” She bluffed.

“You’re a bad liar, Schnee.” The woman said, using her name for the first time in the conversation. “Favor now.”

“What do you want?” Weiss asked, trying to ignore the feeling of pure dread that threatened to swallow her whole.

The woman crossed her arms over her chest, watching Weiss silently for a moment, quietly debating to herself—before shrugging. “Nothing much, just make sure you send your father packing and we’ll be square.”

“I was going to do that regardless.” Weiss blurted, and then cursed herself for not staying silent. It was clear that she had been spending too much time with her friends if she had just _blurted_ out important information.

The woman raised an eyebrow. “We can all use a bit of extra incentive sometimes.”

“Charming.” She managed out, trying to wrestle control over herself.

“I do try.” The woman said, her eyes crinkling as she did an exaggerated bow.

“Do I get a name at least?” Weiss asked, managing to keep her voice calm. “Since you know _so much_ about me.”

“Ah. My employer doesn’t like it when I give out my name...” The woman paused, scratching at her neck and considering her. “So let’s keep it a secret between us, huh?” She stuck out her palm, shooting her a wink. “Sepia, but call me Verdant.”

Weiss took it, “You already know my name.”

“So I guess we’ll have to come up with a new one.” Verdant said, humming and placing a hand to her chin in thought. “Maybe something simple, like Barb or Kara—or maybe even a nickname.” Her eyes seemed to glitter. “Princess?”

Weiss grimaced, squaring her shoulders and crossing her arms. “Favor or no favor I will stab you if you ever repeat any of that to me again.”

“Right on!” Verdant laughed loudly, very visibly leaning away. “How about... the Duchess of Dust?”

“That seems more like a title than a name.” Weiss said quietly, watching her with wary eyes.

“Sorry.” She said happily.

Weiss didn’t know whether she wanted to smile or frown. She’d barely met this woman and she had the feeling that if she spent any longer in her company she’d leave with a migraine. “You don’t seem very apologetic.”

“Oops, I forgot to pretend, excuse me.” Verdant said, this time entirely apologetic.

_Ugh_. “Forgetful?”

“Oh entirely, I’ve forgotten _everything_ about this encounter.” Verdant continued, her eyes going wide as she blinked rapidly, leaning backward and placing a hand over her heart. “Wow, I wonder why I just called _Weiss Schnee_ the Duchess of Dust, hope I don’t get muzzled or something.”

Weiss furrowed her brow. “Forgotten _everything_ , have you?”

“Oh yeah, totally.” She nodded rapidly, before pausing. “Wait, what was my name again?”

“So, you don’t remember _anything_ about favors?” Weiss asked, smiling this time. She didn’t really expect it to work, but it might annoy Verdant, and that was all she wanted at the moment.

“... _No_.” Verdant said, and Weiss doesn’t need to see her face to know that she was pouting. “Clever human.”

“Why thank you.” Weiss didn’t stop her bright grin.

She blinked, and suddenly her eyes were very serious. She gestured to the building. “I’d appreciate it if you walked through these doors with me.”

“Of course.” Weiss replied, a little thrown off by her sudden change.

Verdant watched her, assessing, before nodding a bit. “Yeah, yeah I think you’ll do.”

Weiss got the strangest feeling she wasn’t talking about helping her into the courthouse.

(And of course, because her luck was just that bad, she had been correct.)

* * *

[ _After_ ]

“Ugh.” Whitley scowled darkly, reaching up and pulling at the pieces of white hair that had fallen loose in his face. He never got along with anyone on her team, anyone who he had been forced to realize had slotted into a place closer than he had been. 

Weiss’ expression had remained perfectly blank until that moment, a scowl beginning to mar her face. “Oh—fix your hair!” She scoffed, ignoring the way Ruby was staring at the two of them. “Honestly, with how many times this happens maybe you should invest in a _hairclip_ —”

Whitley’s hand went to his hair, hastily flattening it out. “Sorry, sorry.”

“And straighten your collar—” Weiss scoffed, reaching up and doing it for him. This was one of the reasons she didn’t want Whitley antagonizing anyone, if the person managed to get on his nerves enough all the effort they put in coordination wouldn’t matter, his appearance would get more messy the more annoyed he got. “Honestly, what _are_ you, some type of hellion?”

_Troublesome boy._

“I get it.” He grumped, looking at himself in the mirror for a moment to adjust himself for another second before beginning to make his way out.

“Clearly you don’t.” She sighed, crossing her arms and pursing her lips. “The Marigolds have been taken care of, you were right of course.” Weiss grimaced, “Be careful with them, I suspect that only Henry is of any real threat—May is kind, but... well, it’s best not to have any blind spots, and Mother is already keeping an eye of Dowager Lane—”

“ _Pardon_?” Whitley recoiled a bit, pausing right before he exited the powder room. “It sounds to me as though you've just said you've tasked _M_ _other_ —the same woman who throughout our childhood frequently forgot she had children—with keeping an _eye_ on someone.”

“Klein's watching.” Weiss answered simply, fighting the urge to snap at him for not trusting her judgement. “Get going— _don’t_ touch your hair.”

“I’ll have the musicians play a waltz.” Whitley said, a little sullenly, “That should give you a couple minutes longer to remake your entrance.”

“Yes, yes, wonderful—” She started to push him out the door. “Quickly now we don’t have much time—”

Whitley rolled his eyes. “We’re going to be _fine_ Weiss, our guests won’t complain too much if the both of us are gone for a second.”

“It never hurts to be cautious.” Weiss chastised him, ignoring the fact that he was being a shameless hypocrite. “Vultures, the lot of them, you know that—detestable, despicable, _parasites_.” 

“You’re friends with a couple of those detestable, despicable, _parasites._ ” Whitley pointed out with a sharp smile.

Weiss scoffed. “Only the self-aware ones.”

Whitley snorted, shooting Ruby one last nasty look, before leaving—making his turn and exit as dramatic as possible.

She sighed, “That _boy_.” Weiss spun back to face Ruby, pausing hesitantly for a minute. “It’s good to see you.”

“Yeah.” Ruby smiled, but it was weak, tainted by pain and something else.

Time distorts all things, memory is no different. 

On the nights that she missed Ruby the most, she’d remember her in her namesake, crimson red and smelling of roses. The truth was she’d forgotten what Ruby had smelled like, the sound of her voice not warbled by the slightly shaky connection between two scrolls, the look of her face when not distorted by the grainy screens, bad in quality only because Ruby was so far away—so anchored from civilization.

She had not remembered how tall Ruby had gotten, had not remembered the creases near her mouth or the moles (slightly averted because of the bandages) framing her right cheek and leading down her chin and neck. She had not remembered the tan in her skin, the way that blood rushed into her face or how alive she’d looked.

No, she did not remember these things. As the years passed, all she had of Ruby was red and roses and the short calls once a month. 

How depressing, she remarked to herself wryly while taking another good look at her old partner—so obviously aching with something that Weiss could not see, that Weiss could not fix.

_When in doubt run your mouth._

(It wasn’t a very catchy piece of advice—it didn't even _rhyme_ —but it certainly got the job done.)

“Fashion statement?” She asked snidely, gesturing to her bandages before moving to get a better look at them. Her lips pulled into a frown, Ruby looked haggard, worn down. Whatever mission she had just come from (or was still on) had clearly wiped her out.

“Something like that.” Ruby wheezed out a laugh, leaning against the sink counter, movements stiff and slow.

Weiss chewed on her lip and backed away from her, she wanted to force Ruby into a hospital, but she doubted that her old partner would allow her to. Not to mention the fact that Weiss only had maybe ten minutes before she’d have to make her way back to the main hall. “What happened?” She asked softly.

Ruby didn’t answer for a moment, her eye moving to the door where her brother had exited only seconds ago. “You’re getting along with him now?” She asked, something odd twisting her lips.

“As much as someone can get along with their younger brother.” Weiss admitted, not allowing her weariness to show on her face. Over the calls they shared over the years Weiss had always been careful not to say too much about her family, about the company. 

That wasn’t _new_ exactly, even at their closest before and after Beacon all her team ever managed to wrangle out of her was that she had a sister and younger brother. All of them except Blake hadn’t even known Whitley’s _name_ , and the only reason that Blake had known was because she’d been a part of the White Fang. Ruby and Weiss only ever talked about this and that in their calls, and over time they had stopped confiding in each other altogether.

Ruby probably hardly knew her anymore. Weiss certainly wasn’t the same person she was when they had been seeing each other regularly.

A pang of sadness struck her heart, but she shook it off—long since accustomed to them.

“He hurt you.” Ruby noted slowly. 

Weiss snorted and resisted the urge to retort something nasty. “Just as much as I hurt him.” 

“Hmm.” Ruby smiled, not bitter but not sincere. It was as though the pull of her lips was a reflex more than anything else, the expression waxy and uncomfortable on Ruby’s face. “He doesn’t like me.”

“Whitley doesn’t _like_ anybody, you aren’t special.” Weiss snapped back defensively, eyes narrowing. This was the one area she would never bend with Ruby, as much as she cared her old partner had never completely _understood_. She’d tried, of course, but her experiences with Yang were different than Weiss’ experiences with her own siblings.

The only people who’d ever understand where she was coming from were her brother and sister, and even then they’d all had misconceptions and different views about the types of people they were and the home they had lived in.

Weiss’ jaw clenched, and she resisted the urge to turn away. “You clearly aren’t here for a social visit. What do you need?”

Ruby blinked, “I’m not—” She huffed out a laugh, running a hand through her already messy hair. “When did you start expecting the worst in me?”

“Oh please.” Weiss rolled her eyes, crossing her arms tighter over her chest. “Just because you need something doesn’t mean I’m not happy to see you, Ruby Rose.” The words were truer than she would ever know. Weiss was always happier in her company, silly things like seeing her out of necessity instead of because she wanted to didn’t change that.

(It stung, of course, but that didn’t change the facts, and the facts were that Weiss was utterly besotted by her, that she’d always find a way to assist her in everything she possibly could. Unless Ruby didn’t want that, of course.)

“Well.” Ruby shifted uncomfortably. “I _do_ need help.”

“I got that.” Weiss said, voice snide but more subdued then before—softer. She could never help it when her words got like that, gentle in the face of those she truly cared for. “What can I do for you? Name it, and you shall have it.” 

And Ruby _would_ have it. Weiss would personally make _sure_ of it, she’d buy out everything, create _anything_. If Ruby was wanting for something Weiss was sure to get it for her, perhaps with a few exasperated words of protest, but at the end of the day she was utterly _weak_ for the people she loved. Ruby Rose was certainly no exception, if anything, she was probably the rule. 

It took years of friendship for Ruby to be comfortable receiving things from her, and though they weren’t as close as they used to be Weiss would still never hesitate to give her what she asked for.

Whitley (with an infuriatingly knowing look in his eye) called them courting gifts, and though he wasn’t technically _wrong_ she had never truly allowed herself to think of them as such. Courting had to be _accepted_ by the other party, the second she considered them as 'courting' she disregarded Ruby’s possible feelings on the matter, and even the idea put a bitter taste in her mouth.

“I’m on a mission.” Ruby admitted to her, shrugging sheepishly. She winced a little, hand going to her shoulder, and Weiss felt herself grimace.

“ _No._ I totally didn’t notice that.” She rolled her eyes sarcastically, coming closer to check her over for bad injuries. 

Ruby flailed a little while she worked, but didn’t say anything—only letting out a soft sigh of exasperation. “Weiss.” When she didn’t respond, she only repeated herself with more urgency. “ _Weiss._ ”

“Fine.” Weiss scoffed, “Clearly you are the _pinnacle_ of physical health and I am worrying over you for exactly _nothing_.”

“Hey, c’mon don’t be like that.” Ruby said softly, her expression softening.

“I’m allowed to be sarcastic, it’s been a year since we last saw each other.” Weiss retorted irritably, she pretended that it didn’t bother her. 

“Wait, seriously?” Ruby blinked, frowning. 

“Yes.” She affirmed stiffly. (Weiss ignored the fact that this was apparently news to her.)

“Huh, the more you know... hey, if it’s been a year then where’s my hug?” The look she gave Weiss was one of a kicked puppy.

She rolled her eyes, trying to ignore her expression and continue the conversation that they’d been having.“You can have one later, we’re pressed for time right now and—”

“ _Weiss_.” Ruby whined, opening up her arms and pouting. “ _Hug_.”

Weiss grimaced, “I’m in a very expensive dress—”

“Huuuuuug!” Ruby only whined more.

“Fine.” Weiss snapped back, cheeks flaming. “You’re insufferable right now, do you have a concussion or something?”

“I love you too.” Ruby grinned back, reaching forward to tug lightly on Weiss’ wrist, pulling her closer.

“Whatever.” She huffed, allowing her to be embraced. Strong arms wrapped innocently around her back, her chin settling on Weiss’ shoulder as a soft sigh escaped her lips. 

“I missed you.” Ruby murmured against her hair. “I said that I didn’t know it’d been a year but that was a lie.”

“Very funny.” Weiss responded, rolling her eyes. She returned the hug, of course, but she was mindful to keep the urge to hold her tighter at bay. As much as she was sure Ruby wouldn’t mind, as it had been a long time since they’d seen each other in person, Weiss knew better than to tempt fate. Besides, hugging Ruby closer meant more discomfort for Weiss, no matter how much she wanted to.

Weiss was surprised to find that Ruby _did_ smell like roses, that while her memory hadn’t failed her it hadn't exactly done her justice either. Ruby did not simply smell of roses, it was almost as though she _was_ one. It was more like roses were the base, and everything that came after—( _the scent of blood and gunpowder that clung to her, wafting into Weiss’ face along with that distinct smell of something acidic that gripped a person when they used dust_ )—was just an accessory.

Though she had apparently remembered some of what it felt like to be hugged by her, she’d forgotten how... warm it all was, the feeling of Ruby holding her close, cheek rubbing against the sight of Weiss’ head as she sighed contently.

She was no stranger to hugs, not with Sun around and Penny being a frequent visitor, but she’d never grown entirely comfortable in them. They had come far too late in her life for that, but they could be nice. Though, sometimes she couldn’t bear to be touched, the body of someone else burning imprints around her back and shoulders as they hugged her. Even the smallest of touches could make her feel like the room was too hot, fingers burned into her palm after a handshake or accidental brush of the back of someone else's hand.

Even though it was a bit of a bad day for physical affection, it was almost nice, with Ruby.

( _Almost_.) 

The back of her neck prickled, and she shifted uncomfortably. 

Time to escape.

“Now, why are you here?” Weiss asked her, pulling away quickly, twitching and fighting the urge to rub where Ruby’s hands had held her. 

“Um, a mission?” Was her response, the smile on her face not dropping. “Honestly, Weiss, I thought I told you—”

“Ruby.” She sighed, “Please.” Ruby was making it easy for her to lose track of time, something that she couldn’t afford to waste nowadays. 

Weiss considered herself for a moment. Well, it _was_ only for a couple of minutes, right?

(She decided to avoid the fact that she was probably being a bit of a hypocrite.)

“There was...” Ruby twitched, reaching up to her shoulder to fiddle with her cloak. An expression of discomfort crossed her face. “There's been some bad stuff going on.”

“Grimm?” Weiss asked, despite knowing it must be much more than that if _Ruby_ was acting like _this._ Her old partner could be very serious when it came to important missions, yes, but it wasn’t often she got nervous and awkward because of them.

There was something that she couldn’t (or wouldn’t) tell Weiss, and it was clearly grating on her nerves.

“Sorta.” Ruby admitted, rubbing at the back of her neck.

Weiss’ eyes narrowed. “What do you mean, _‘sorta’_ was it a Grimm or not?”

Ruby stayed silent for a moment, closing her eye and thinking hard. At once, her voice became less unsure, a serious and soft tone that always left Weiss very alert. “There’s been some bad science going on.”

_Unethical experimentation?_

“And that’s led you here, to Atlas.” _To me._

“Yeah.” Ruby nodded, shifting uncomfortably.

“Very well.” Weiss swallowed, nodding her head. “Who did—”

“Can’t tell you that.” Ruby winced, fiddling with the collar of her shirt.

Stupid huntsman laws. “ _Fine_ , what were they—”

“Uh, _technically_ I can’t tell you that either.” Ruby said, and a bit of a mischievous twinkle made itself known in her eyes.

Weiss blinked, the fact that she was surprised that Ruby was willing to break the law to do the right thing _really_ shouldn't have surprised her anymore. “...but you’re going to.”

“But I’m going to.” Ruby agreed. “Someone was experimenting with _the pools_ , the... well, you remember them don’t you?”

“Yes.” Weiss said, jaw clenched and arms crossed around her chest. “People _do_ tend to trip and fall into them.”

“Yikes.” She laughed, rubbing at the back of her head. “I forgot how kinda mean you could be.”

She eyed her old partner for a moment, ignoring her comment. “You think someone in Atlas is responsible.”

Ruby’s face went more serious. “Tracked them here, yes.”

“That is... not a lot of information to go on.” Weiss considered everything. She already knew that it would be bad, if it was enough to startle Ruby this badly, and the lack of knowledge of the situation was starting to worry her more. “Can you at least tell me the nature of experiments?”

“You remember Cinder Fall, don’t you?” Ruby asked.

How could Weiss ever forget? The poor woman had been... consumed, the piece of Grimm taking control over her— _corrupting_ her. The end of her life had been a mercy. “That bad?” Her voice was quiet, subdued.

“...with less care then Salem had, actually.”

“Certainly sounds like someone from _here_ is capable of that.” Weiss said through a brittle laugh, but her face had gone very pale.

“Here?” Ruby blinked, confused.

Weiss paused for a moment, and genuinely wondered if she had a concussion. “Atlas.”

“Oh.” She nodded, “Right, right.”

“What?” Weiss frowned.

Ruby went quiet, her gaze watchful and considering. “When you mean to say Atlas you usually just say _Atlas_.”

“Is that... significant, somehow?” She asked, raising a brow.

Ruby didn’t respond for a moment before looking away. She was smiling, but it didn’t seem so genuine. “You’ve really grown into your own here, huh?”

“It’s been five years since the war ended.” Weiss said, voice quiet. “What else was I supposed to do, _rot_ with the rest of my family?”

“What do you mean rot—”

“The kingdoms weren’t the only things broken, Ruby.” Weiss smiled, kind of bitter but more wistful. “I fixed what I could, added to the things I found, but at the end of the day we were rotting... Winter proved that, I think.”

“Are you...” Ruby seemed to wrestle with something. “Are you not on good terms anymore?”

“She’s... She’s never approved of the political intricacies of nobility.” Weiss answered diplomatically. “We’re fine, but it’s no secret she doesn’t like what Whitley and I are doing, even if the results are better than she could’ve hoped.”

It was quiet for a moment as they watched each other, assessing.

Weiss could barely keep her eyes off of her, gaze flickering and taking everything in as though she was afraid that none of it was real—that Ruby would be there one moment and then gone the next, like some sort of ghost.

“I... I don’t know Atlas.” Ruby said after a moment.

“Yes.” Weiss nodded.

“You do.” Ruby said.

She shut her eyes. “...yes.”

Weiss Schnee knew that she was weak for Ruby Rose. She knew it the second they had met, the moment that she met her eyes she knew she was _weak._

She never quite had a handle on herself after that.

Weiss had always been sure to cover her tracks. She wasn’t stupid, she knew exactly what kind of emotion was plaguing her, knew exactly what would become of her if she made it known to anybody. Weiss tries, she tries _so hard_ not to make it obvious, and it’s terrifying when someone looks at her with those _knowing_ eyes. 

In the past, she’d hated herself for it, just a little.

She’d seen what it had turned other people into, had seen what it reduced _her_ to, and she had found that she had despised it all.

But now, well.

Weiss had grown tired of hating the aspects of herself she was better off loving. 

Nothing will ever come of it. She knows that, she _knows_ that, she knows it like she knows the back of her hand. Weiss can see the way this will go, the apologetic smile and awkward shuffle, and even though _nothing will ever come of this_ —she’s weak for her anyway.

Weiss (notoriously wanting and possessive and narcissistic) is not at all surprised when she finds that even though in the end everything would be left unrequited, that she does not regret the love she has for Ruby for a moment. Sure, everything else that comes with the emotion—(the jealousy and sense of inevitability that came with watching Ruby love and laugh and smile and just _live_ )—was so _overwhelming_ that sometimes she felt like she would collapse under the weight of it.

But, somehow, she didn't regret it.

(Maybe because the feeling itself was so warm that her insides were too melted, too enraptured by it the fact that all her life she’d spent frozen, a cold girl that blossomed to an even colder woman, and now she was so desperately, entirely _warm._ )

She was sure that she was lucky to have Ruby near her, lucky every moment that Ruby even thought to _talk_ to her.

“Weiss.” Ruby said, her voice soft, and then her mouth began to curve upward. Her lips were pulled in such a beautiful expression of hope that Weiss had nearly forgotten to breathe. Even just the _sound_ of her name would strip her bare, pull the armor from her body that she had tried so desperately to make permanent. 

(And even as the years passed, even as the war ended, even as they went separate ways, that one fact never changed.)

She thought about the party, about how she should really get back to hosting, about how the waltz would end soon—but that _look_ on Ruby's face made her pause. She closed her eyes again, another sigh escaping her mouth as she steeled her nerves.

If she was going to do this, she wasn't going to do it in halves.

“Tell me how I can help.” Weiss said to her, eyes fluttering open—her voice firm, unwavering.

Ruby smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you get baby whitley next chapter! he's a little pissy but he's got spirit
> 
> I wanted to describe verdant's cloak as a tiny hooded poncho but I don't think weiss knows what a poncho is lmao
> 
> anyway, unethical science, who could've seen that coming? :)))


	3. everything means nothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the before, the Schnee siblings are reunited.
> 
> In the after, Weiss resolves herself to introducing Ruby to the most powerful woman in Atlas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kinda filler tbh

[ _Before_ ]

Weiss kept her face in a mask, calm and disinterested, as she walked through the halls. She kept moving forward, fighting through the revulsion she felt, her silent struggle very carefully tucked away. She hated it, all of it; the way Atlas made her feel utterly and entirely alone. Verdant had already gone in another direction, not before shooting her a wink, and despite how odd the other woman was Weiss couldn’t help but wish she was there; if only because she found herself lacking in company.

The building was just like the rest of the floating kingdom, shrouded in whites and blues; pale and bright. It was a sterile sort of cleanliness, unnatural and wrong, something that only served to provide the Atlesians with superiority. 

_We are clean, and they are not. We are bright, and they are dark. We are better, and they are worse._

_We are Atlas, and they are Mantle._

In truth, only served to make Weiss nauseous. 

“Miss Schnee.” A guard bowed his head, gesturing towards a door. He was in a military uniform, a sight that used to cause her no undue stress now sent uneasy shivers down her spine. “You and your family will be seated here.” 

“Of course.” Weiss nodded, biting back the automatic thank you. Spending time at Beacon and then with her team had changed her responses, not a lot but enough to where she would have to think very hard about the way she presented herself.

The guard nodded, opening the door for her, and Weiss entered the courtroom.

They were expected to sit in a sort of witness box, where the lawyers could call upon them when needed. Whitley was already there, the back of his head the only part of him visible. Her brother twitched at the sound of the door opening, but otherwise didn’t turn to face her.

She sat down beside him, not saying a word.

Silent, the both of them watched the mingling of the court, almost more a social event than any real trial. She reminded herself that this was just how things _were_ in Atlas, the constant schmoozing an effective and well known strategy. Still, it set Weiss on edge, and she barely managed not to grind her teeth when she recognized the defense laughing with prosecution. She knew that they were technically coworkers, that there was no reason for bad blood between them, but nothing could stop the nauseous churning in her stomach.

She was going to be sick.

Weiss pressed a hand to her mouth, turning away.

The movement was enough to get her brother to finally notice her.

“I almost didn’t expect you to come.” Whitley began, his voice barely a whisper.

Weiss fought the urge to turn and look at him. “Oh?”

“Yes.” Whitley said, and his tone was almost conversational—as though he was talking of the weather or something equally as trivial. “You tend to go off _gallivanting_ with those barbarians of yours whenever you’re actually _needed_ for something, so excuse me for being the slightest bit disbelieving when you said you’d attend with me.”

Weiss couldn’t help her small laugh, a mixture between genuine amusement and bitterness. “Oh Whitley, how much I’ve _missed_ you.”

“I’m sure.” Whitley said, twitching after a moment. “So where are they?” He asked, and only when it was obvious that he was looking at her did she turn to face him.

The poor boy looked exhausted, no amount of concealer could hide the bruises under his eyes, the gauntness of his cheeks. His face, usually long and sharp and pointy, bordered on skeletal; the paleness of his skin almost unnatural. He was made up to look elegantly professional though, with his dress shirt buttoned up all the way to his neck, a red tie so dark that for a moment she mistook it as black, his pale blue vest pressed perfectly—not a single wrinkle marring his appearance.

Still, there was no hiding the weariness in his eyes, the hard set of his jaw and mouth.

A nasty, vindictive part of her thought, _good._ How she despised him so, how easily he managed to get on her nerves; his only talent at times.

She forced the thoughts away from her, knowing that they weren’t true, knowing that her hurt and frustration would only serve to alienate herself from him further. Despite everything, despite the way he’d treated her when she’d been back—his spiteful lashing out, his cold words—she knew that he was _still_ her brother. 

Still her responsibility, in some ways.

Weiss looked at him, tired. “Pardon?” She asked, tilting her head ever so slightly.

Her brother stared at her for a moment, his mouth twitching downward.

She waited.

He rolled his eyes.

“Where are those hunter friends of yours? I thought they were the oh-so _affectionate_ type, the ‘show up to be supportive’ kind of nuisances.” Whitley snorted, leaning his cheek on the palm of his hand. He looked bored, his posture almost improper, something that surprised her more than it should have. “Honestly, that kind of sentimentality would kill me _far_ sooner than any of those Grimm you seem so content to chase down.”

“They’re...” Weiss considered herself for a moment. “Busy.”

“Busy?” He asked, looking moderately incredulous, raising his eyebrows.

“Yes.” She nodded, forcing herself not to twitch. “Busy.”

Whitley eyed her for a moment, liking his lips and looking far too pleased with himself. “Busy or _busy_.”

“I...” Weiss faltered “You will be displeased no matter what my response.”

She meant that he’d turn it against her no matter what she told him.

“So _busy_ then.” He scoffed, mockingly widening his eyes and shooting her a distinctly unimpressed look. “I don’t know why you look so surprised, we’ve been ditched by Mother and Father for _years_. One would think you’ve gotten _used to it_ by now.”

“How so very cruel of you.” Weiss said, smiling and trying to hide the discomfort she’d felt at his words. She looked back out at the courtroom, and her eyes settled on a figure in the back, arms crossed—furry ears wiggling slightly. Suspicion bubbled up inside of her. “Does the name ‘Sepia Verdant’ mean anything to you?”

Whitley looked at her funny, scoffing and looking around for a moment to make sure that there were no eavesdroppers. They were in a relatively private area, but it never hurt to be sure. Finally, when he was satisfied, he slumped back into his chair, scowling. “My, my, off shopping for a _mercenary_ , dear sister? I don’t believe you have the _funds_ for it.”

A mercenary? They weren’t uncommon in Mantle or Atlas, but seeing one at such a high profile trial made Weiss more than a little wary. Verdant seemed... alright enough, sure, but there was no trusting the people who frequented Atlas. She forced the frown from her face, shooting her brother a light look. “What a wonderful joke, darling brother, simply hilarious.”

“No that wasn’t a joke.” Whitley said seriously. “See, what _is_ a joke is how in the world you seek to meet with Miss Verdant if you have nary but a penny to your name.” 

“Oh brother, how charming of you. I almost forgot how poor I am, _whatever_ would I do without your charitable reminder?”

“Father could barely even make _contact_ with her when he was in the market for a mercenary, and she only met with him to tell him to ‘shove off,’ though she put it in a way that was much less polite.” Whitley continued, ignoring her. “So, tell me, what makes you think a _peasant_ like you can?”

Weiss grimaced fighting the urge to retort and call him a buffoon and sparing another glance at Verdant. The woman was looking up at them, and though she couldn’t see her face Weiss knew that she was doing that infuriating eye smile thing. She waved a little, and then moved, slipping away. 

“Call it luck.” Weiss quipped, looking away from the crowd.

“I’d be better off calling it rubbish.” Whitley snarked out, not noticing where her attention had briefly strayed.

She was quiet for a moment, before sighing and turning back to face her brother. “Tell me what Father wanted from her.” She demanded softly.

“ _Oh_? So you _weren’t_ paying attention before you ran away from home?” Whitley asked her snidely, his voice bordering on sugary sweet.

“You’ll have to excuse me for that, darling brother of mine.” Weiss laughed easily, hiding the spike of frustration at his words. “I was busy, you see.”

“Busy?” He asked her skeptically. “Doing _what_?”

“Being better than you.” She retorted.

“Ugh, honestly you’re a _disgrace_.” Whitley scowled, his features for once showing just how angry he was with her. Brows furrowed and cheeks red as he looked at her as though he wished he could strangle her himself. It was a sadder sight than she thought it would be. “Why should I tell you?”

Weiss stared at him for a moment, before turning away. “Because then I’ll have to learn myself, and we both know you _don’t_ want that.”

“You...” He seemed to freeze for a moment, his hands twitching as something similar to astonishment made its home in his face. “You are under the impression that I strive to take the company out from Father.”

Weiss snorted, waving him off easily enough. “Of course not, you’re _fifteen_ , you can barely take a gown from my room without getting caught—”

“That was _one_ time.” Whitley protested straight away, his cheeks flushing so red that for a moment Weiss thought his head might actually explode.

“That I caught you at it, anyway.” She retorted, trying not to grin.

“You’re insufferable.” He scowled, crossing his arms, his face pink and lips pursed.

Weiss smiled at him, an almost soft expression on her face. She’d forgotten what he was like when he wasn’t being an ass, a whelp of a boy so easily embarrassed by the things he had guiltily taken an interest in. It was almost cute, actually, and she couldn’t stop the soft stirrings of fondness in her chest at the sight.

Whitley looked away, suddenly uncomfortable. “You remember the Calypso family, don’t you?”

“Are you under the impression that I have amnesia, or that I’m simply stupid?” Weiss asked, eyeing him for a moment and raising a single brow.

“Bit of both, if I’m being quite honest with you.” Whitley told her, expression not changing an ounce.

“ _Everyone_ knows the Calypso family, Whitley.” Weiss sighed in exasperation, trying to ignore his retort. “Honestly, you’d have to be living under a rock—”

“Yes well, that mercenary has...” He shifted for a moment, glancing around the room once more before settling. A sigh escaped his lips before he began to chew on his cheek. “It’s complicated.”

Her brows furrowed. “How so?”

“I led Lady Calypso and Miss Verdant to Father’s office, once. Verdant was standing beside her, looking at Father like he was vermin.” Whitley pursed his lips, coughing into his palm to hide what looked like a smile. “Which _was_ fair, I suppose... I overheard some things between them, a simple conversation I’m sure.”

Weiss decided to ignore the fact that Whitley had quite obviously heard more than ‘a simple conversation’ and shot him a sharp look. “Lady _Calypso_ was in contact with—”

“She was threatening him, actually.” Whitley interjected. “You know of her... _affliction_ —”

“ _Don’t_ call it that.” Weiss snarled.

Whitley very clearly startled, blinking at her for a moment. He was looking at her like he’d never seen her before. “...that’s what everyone else calls it.” He settled on uncertainly, twitching.

“You are not ‘everyone else,’ do not delude yourself, it's an insult to your person.” She said, much calmer than before, but there was no hiding the angry crease between her brows.

“I see.” Whitley mumbled after a moment. “Well, I suppose I don’t need to tell you why she was threatening him?”

She nodded, humming. “If it has to do with what you say, I can only assume it was entirely valid.”

“Ugh.” He crossed his arms in annoyance, looking more sullen than before. “Why do you even want to know about Verdant anyhow? The way I’ve seen it, she’s firmly under the thumb of Calypso.”

“We’ve...” Weiss hesitated for a moment. “We’ve had a brief introduction to each other.”

“I have already decided I don’t want to know.” Whitley declared immediately, shooting her an irritated look, as though what had happened had inconvenienced him personally. “When you find yourself stuck on the end of one of her absurdly sharp knives don’t come running for me.”

Weiss snorted, pressing a hand to her stomach, the scar there prickling for a moment at her touch. “If I were on the end of one of her knives I suspect I wouldn’t be able to run, standard rule of impalement, you see, you can’t exactly _run_ if there’s something sharp sticking out of you.”

“Oh, honestly, you and your dramatics know no bounds.” Whitley scowled, leaning away from her and crossing his arms. “Get _impaled_ on one of your adventures, did you?”

“Um.” Weiss started, for the first time in the conversation beginning to fidget uncomfortably. She couldn’t exactly _lie_ to him about what happened... Well she _could_ but she didn’t exactly _want_ to. It made her feel wrong, lying to him about something so simple.

Their mother had always liked to teach them the code of Atlas before she isolated herself in her garden, stressing things like honor and honesty. She supposed some lessons just didn’t fall away, no matter how much time passed. Besides, it wasn’t as though Whitley could use the information against her or anything like that, the worst he would do was tell Winter, and she highly doubted he would. They didn’t talk to each other much.

Whitley was frowning at her. “Weiss?” He asked, mockingly sympathetic. “I know that you’re a stuttering halfwit with issues putting two and two together but this is getting ridiculous—”

“Yes, actually.” She interrupted him.

“I— _what?_ ”

“Yes, I was impaled.” Weiss explained, ignoring the sudden churning in her stomach. She took one look at his face and decided that she’d made a mistake.

“Weiss, what do you mean—”

“Shush, the trial is beginning to start.” It wasn’t, actually, but Weiss really didn’t want to deal with whatever Whitley was about to do.

Whitley only looked more aghast. “Weiss—”

He was interrupted by the door opening from behind them.

Weiss’ relief was palatable. “Oh look there’s Winter, hi Winter!”

Her older sister rose a brow, fidgeting awkwardly in her military uniform. She was a welcome sight to see, even if Weiss was on the verge of a panic.

“ _Weiss_ —” Whitley snarled, paying their older sister no attention.

She sighed, shooting them both an exasperated look. “Hello, siblings—”

“Did you know Weiss had been _impaled_?!” Whitley whispered harshly, spinning to face Winter and gesturing to Weiss like some sort of mad man.

“I— _what_?” Winter blinked, turning to look at Weiss.

She scowled at her brother, “Oh Whitley you little _snitch_ —”

“Did you just use the word _snitch_?!” Whitley asked, looking at her as though she was some sort of unrecognizable entity. “I think that’s _worse_ than being impaled and not telling us about it.”

“And how exactly did you expect me to do that?” Weiss asked him, exasperated. “Write you a letter saying, ‘Dear brother, I know you despise me right now but I just wanted to inform you that I’ve been speared, oh and I _do_ hope you’ve been keeping up with your _studies_ —”

“You could have!” Whitley said, voice steadily growing louder. “You could have just written me a letter _period_ —”

“ _Enough_.” Winter snarled, smacking them both on the backs of their heads. “We will discuss this later, when the trial is over.” She shot Weiss a look, “Next time you are injured I expect to be notified, understood?”

“It was a while ago.” Weiss murmured. “And Jaune healed—”

“I don’t care.” Winter said, and easily lifted Whitley before setting him in another seat so that she could position herself in between them. “This is to make sure you don’t argue, since the two of you are so determined to act like children.”

Whitley let out an embarrassed squawk and Weiss looked down at her shoes, trying and failing to convince herself that she wasn’t sulking.

* * *

[ _After_ ]

“So she’s staying with us?” Whitley asked her, crossing his arms with an unreadable look on his face.

Weiss winced. “Whitley—”

“I, for one, think it’s an _awesome_ idea.” Sun interjected easily, jumping into the seat beside her, wrapping an arm around the back of her chair and grinning at Whitley’s startled shout.

As soon as he regained his composure her brother was glaring something fierce at Sun. “No offense, but _of course_ you do.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sun asked, pouting.

Whitley sneered. “Why, dear brother, only that most of your ideas are imbecilic.”

It was quiet, then, with both Weiss and Sun staring at Whitley in pure astonishment. 

She managed to wrangle the sudden bubble of warmth in her chest, pressing a hand to her shoulder as she tried to make her mouth work properly. “Did you just...” She trailed off, blinking. “...did you just call Sun—”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Whitley squawked, cheeks pink.

“Whitley...” Sun began seriously, a smile growing on his face. “Do you see me as an older brother figure?”

“ _No_ , no I do not—”

“As adorable as this all is, and trust me, it’s so cute that I may just collapse, we were having a conversation.” Weiss interjected, both to save Whitley from embarrassment and because she genuinely wanted to get back on topic. 

“She’s staying, then?” Whitley asked after a moment.

“I...” Weiss paused. “I want her to.” 

“Right.” Whitley looked away. “I’ll have some of the servants prep one of the guest bedrooms—in the east wing perhaps.” He snorted. “Across from your room.”

“Whitley.” She said his name softly, a plea for him to understand.

“I am not ignorant of your affections, Weiss.” Whitley said grimly, shooting her a pained smile “And though I may not be wholly... _approving_ of who exactly you seem to think deserves them, the fact that she’s somehow managed to attain them makes me believe that I can give her a bit of credit, just this once.”

Sun gasped loudly, pressing a hand against his chest dramatically. “Wow ‘lil bro that was actually so nice of you—”

“Another word, Wukong, I dare you.” Whitley snarled.

“Aww, look Weiss!” Sun slapped her on the shoulder happily, pointing at her brother’s face with an impish grin. “He’s _totally_ blushing right now.”

“I am _not_.” Whitley protested, his voice cracking a little.

Klein and Ruby walk in on Sun and Weiss’ laughter.

“Madam—”

“Klein.” Weiss sighed, closing her eyes. “For the love of all that’s holy _please_ call me by my name—”

“You know it’s a punishment.” He chastised. “Until you take a day off you will be called one of two things, Madam Schnee and a nickname or two.”

Whitley snorted when Weiss groaned, her head plopping back on the couch as her eyes fluttered closed.

“Smile, sister.” Whitley jeered. “Maybe he’ll loosen the punishment.”

Weiss rolled her eyes, smiling falsely and gesturing to her face. “Will this do?”

“Nah.” Sun said, reaching onto the coffee table and grabbing a pastry. “You suck at those, y’know.” He shoved it into his mouth, smearing his face with chocolate and beaming at her. “I, on the other hand, excel—”

Weiss laughed, hiding her smile with one palm as she swatted him on the shoulder.

“There’s my happy little snowflake.” Klein cooed, his eyes flickering.

She heard Ruby begin to giggle.

Weiss leaned her head back, finding that Ruby was moving forward, her upside down face almost teasing. Weiss scoffed, pursing her lips and closing her eyes, letting out a semi annoyed sigh as she crossed her arms.

“Don’t sulk.” Ruby chastised, and when Weiss opened her eyes she found that Ruby had braced her hands around her head, leaning over her face. “It’s cute.”

Whitley made a retching noise, pretending to gag. “I’m glad Weiss is getting punished if I have to put up with this—”

“Oh don’t think I’m not doing the same for you, young man.” Klein said, his eyes shifting colors as he shot him a sharp look. “All have you know—”

That was all her brother needed to get to his feet, cheeks turning pink as he moved hastily to flee the room.

“Whitley—” Weiss called, but her brother was already gone. She snorted after a moment, sighing and turning to look at Klein. “I’m taking a day off tomorrow.”

“Are you?” He asked, delighted.

“Ruby and I are going on a field trip.” She remarked.

Klein instantly deflated. “That’s not a real day off.”

“It counts.” She protested indignantly. 

Sun groaned, shoving her lightly on the shoulder. “Why can’t you just like, take a nap like the rest of us?”

Weiss shrugged.

Ruby frowned, moving around the couch to sit across from her. When Weiss had been forced back to the gala she’d had Klein help Ruby with whatever she needed. In Weiss’ opinion, what she needed was a good night’s sleep and maybe a week of rest, but she was biased. She was wearing a nondescript dark eye patch, covering her eye and most of the side of her face.

The sight of her still made Weiss’ chest ache, but she pushed through it, straightening up as Ruby readied to ask her a question.

“Where are we going?”

Weiss hesitated for a moment, exchanging a look with Sun.

“I’ll head out.” He said, “C’mon, old dude, let’s go chase down my ‘lil bro.”

“Part of the family now, are you, lad?” Klein asked, his accent changing as he followed after him.

“Eh, something like that.” Sun laughed, waving at the both of them before he was gone.

Ruby watched Weiss expectantly.

“You know.” Weiss began, leaning deeper into her seat, crossing one knee over the other and raising a brow. “I do remember telling you to get some rest.”

“Ah.” Ruby said. “Maybe later.”

Weiss rolled her eyes, sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose. She wanted to press the issue, but she knew better at this point. “We’ll be going to the Calypso estate tomorrow afternoon, a last minute meeting that Lady Calypso has granted me.”

“Why?” Ruby asked.

Weiss’ lips twitched downward, taking in the exhaustion in her face. “You’re dead on your feet, Ruby.”

“So you aren’t going to tell me?” She whined a little.

“Not until tomorrow.” Weiss sighed, and when Ruby shot her a look she winced and averted her gaze. “I... I will tell you that Calypso has a bigger network than I, she may know more about the... experiments.”

“That’s all?” Ruby asked, narrowing her gaze.

Weiss smiled blandly. “Go to bed, it's late.”

Ruby stared at her for a moment. “I didn’t know Sun lived here.” She said, changing the subject.

“Occasionally.” Weiss admitted. “He likes traveling, he’s only here a couple of months out of the year, he likes to play at being security. I suppose you got lucky, coming when you did.”

“I guess.” Ruby sighed tiredly. 

Weiss stood to her feet, extending her hand. “I’ll take you to your room.”

Ruby looked at her, chewing on the inside of her cheek, before she took her hand and allowed herself to be pulled upward.

Weiss spent the rest of the evening in her office, going through files, occasionally running a hand through her hair or gnawing on her bottom lip. Worry had surfaced with Ruby’s news. Weiss knew that she didn’t have the biggest information network in Atlas, but it was still pretty sizable, certainly not the smallest. The mission that Ruby had been on was _big_ , important enough where she couldn’t understand how no whispers of the information had made it to her.

It put her in a very rough position. 

Lady Calypso didn’t make idle favors, and while they both owed each other some small ones, Weiss couldn’t risk alienating the other woman to the point where she might decide not to tell her. Not that it would be particularly hard to stay in her good graces, what with their... _odd_ professional relationship throughout the years.

Calypso was fond of her, considering that the Schnees were one of the very rare families in Atlas willing to do proper and cordial business with her. But even if this was true, Weiss held no delusions that if she stepped one toe out of line that Calypso would see to it that they were efficiently destroyed in every way possible. 

Therefore, a very rough position.

“You don’t have to actually come in with me.” Weiss said quietly to Ruby the next morning. They were sitting in the back of one of the company cars, Weiss gazing out the window and very pointedly not looking at her.

Ruby had changed her outfit, and it was easier not to look.

“I think I should, if she has information it’s best I hear it straight out.” Was her response, a bit of disbelief coloring her tone.

Weiss couldn’t find it in herself to refuse her, sighing and closing her eyes. There was no telling how Calypso would react, but... “Of course,” She decided after a moment. “Though please keep your talking to a minimum, and for your own sake make sure that if she asks you a question stay quiet or tell the truth.”

“I—what?”

Weiss pursed her lips together, finally turning to face her. 

Ruby’s eye patch had been embroidered with her emblem, something that she must have done while Weiss was under the impression she was sleeping. The crimson rose stark against her face. It hurt to look at, the color... the _symbol._ All of it was a reminder that Ruby was actually there, that she was in front of her—breathing and living and sometimes even smiling, and Weiss couldn’t do a thing to express her appreciation for it.

Well, that wasn’t exactly true, she _was_ helping her with her mission—(which was still shrouded in _some_ mystery, as Ruby refused to tell her some specifics)—but that hardly counted.

(She had to tell herself it hardly counted, to prevent herself from doing more than Ruby had asked her to do. It was surprisingly difficult.)

“What do you know about Atlas’ code of honor?” She asked after a moment, turning away again. They were almost to the estate, the tell tale statues of Electra Calypso (one of the founders of Atlas along with her grandfather) standing proudly in her hunting gear. From what she’d gleaned from her grandfather’s accounts, the woman in question was a very gifted metalworker and scientist, he’d often gone to her for advice on safely mining dust from the earth.

The connection between their families had faltered when her grandfather died, only to rekindle the professional relationship between Weiss and Lady Calypso. 

Not that the past mattered much in how they were acquainted to each other.

“You have a code?” Ruby asked, and when Weiss over her expression was stumped. “I kind of thought all the rich people here were immoral and stuff.”

“It’s... not as widespread as it used to be.” Weiss said, shifting uncomfortably. “The old ways were structured so that nobility never turned into too much of a cesspit—but for a lot of reasons they aren’t followed anymore.” Which of course led to the political climate destabilizing even more, a whole headache that Weiss was woefully unequipped to handle.

“Like?” Ruby pressed.

Weiss considered her for a moment. “Well, for one they require never telling a lie—staying blunt and to the point at all times, even when it might inconvenience you.”

“Oh.” Ruby said, looking down at her hands. “People here like lying?”

“...sort of.” Weiss admitted warily, chewing on her lip. “Another reason is that they are _terribly_ out of date, lots of things that were considered chivalry and reasonable then aren’t so charming nowadays.”

She let out a sigh, “And Calypso follows them anyway?”

And wasn’t _that_ the million dollar question, Weiss thought to herself, amused. “To a point.” She adjusted the collar of her dress shirt, fiddling with the tie. “She’s a woman born out of wedlock, so she’s already skewed the old testaments on their head—not to mention the... _circumstances_ of her parentage.”

“And what’s that?” Ruby asked warily.

Weiss felt her lips twitch into a smile. “...you’ll see.” 

“I guess.” Her brows furrowed. “Why’d it change?”

“What?”

“All that code stuff, how’d it fall out?” Ruby clarified, leaning back into her seat, her mouth in a hard line. “And, like, what are the rules?”

“Honor is strange in Atlas, it used to be something held highly—honesty and bluntness. That all changed the second my father rose to power.” Weiss explained.

Well, perhaps that was an exaggeration; it wasn’t the _exact_ second that Jacques was positioned as the head of the SDC that things changed. Things destabilized over time, but it was still true. He was a ruthless man, her father, he always had been. Silly things like social expectation and tradition wouldn’t stop him from bettering himself and his standing, from expanding his wealth. Willow Schnee had unknowingly invited a snake into the precious gardens of Atlas, and that snake did what snakes did best.

Choked the life out of things.

He poisoned Atlesian politics, they’d been bad before, but now they were so much _worse._ In the days of her grandfather everyone was honest and blunt with each other, and it only took one man to change some of that—revealing a great deal of problems in the system, proving there were no repercussions for people who had no honor.

Everyone had honor, after all, why would they even think to prepare for the lack of it?

Weiss liked to think that if she were alive in her grandfather’s day she would have ensured there were consequences, but that just may be the part of her that was groomed by her father talking.

Nowadays only families like the founders could afford to uphold themselves to the old standards—no one messed with the founders, _no one._ Others besides the founding families had tried to hold themselves to that esteem, of course, a lot of old lords and nobles held onto their old sense of honor as tight as they could—but there was no beating the newer generation, desperate and cunning and unsympathetic.

She was lucky to be born a Schnee, as terrible as it was, her grandfather was a respected source of the kingdom’s wealth; that prestige had been passed down to her.

Just like Lady Calypso held the respect of her great grandmother.

“The finer points of the Atlesian honor code are...” Weiss considered herself, licking at the ridges of her teeth. “Very nuanced.”

“Hmm.”

“The point is, Oceana Calypso values honesty and integrity, and she won’t be lying to us straight out—not to mention she makes it her business to understand the comings and goings of Atlas and Mantle. If she doesn’t know, she easily has the means to find out, and as long as we keep cordial she won’t keep the information from us—for a favor or boon, of course.”

“Madam Schnee.” The driver said over the intercom. “We’ve arrived.”

“Of course.” She said back, “You need not wait for us.”

“Yes, Madam.”

“Calypso will send us back.” Weiss explained. “Common courtesy.”

“Right.” Ruby said, doing her best to mask her confusion.

They moved forward, the great grand gates of the estate opening. Weiss had always admired the color scheme that Calypso had chosen for her home, the dark blues and golds; no less as grandstanding and regal than the rest of Atlas, but far more soothing to look upon. 

“We walk up.” Weiss said quietly, “It’s a—”

“Common courtesy?” Ruby guessed, smiling.

Weiss returned it, though hers was notably weaker. “Yes.” She sighed, looking back at the Manor. _Common courtesy._

How she wished it was that simple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> originally you were gonna meet oceana this chapter but the scenes ran kind of long, so that's for the next chapter!!! anyway, more politics next chapter


	4. the roles we fall in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the before, Weiss mourns for the lost parts of herself.
> 
> In the after, Lady Oceana Calypso offers Weiss a deal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't know if i made this clear or not but verdant and oceana will be reoccurring characters as a) there aren't many characters from atlas i can actually use and b) they are relevant to the overall plot, because this fic actually as one of those

[ _Before_ ]

“Something is wrong.” Weiss said softly, clenching her hands tighter together, doing her best to keep them folded in her lap. The urge to fidget was almost too great to resist, and every once in a while she’d find that she’d have trouble stopping the twitch of her fingers or bounce of her knee. She'd never been one for being obviously nervous, but this was different, and her actions reflected that.

Beside her, Winter frowned. She was the picture of cool professionalism, her posture proper and not one hair out of place. Utterly symmetrical in her appearance, not allowing herself even the briefest of falterings. “What?”

Whitley, on the other hand, mirrored Weiss. He shifted in his seat, not much for someone not paying attention, but easy for her to notice. “She’s right... father is—”

“ _Calm_.” Winter murmured, and something in her expression shifted, she knew just as well as the others the face he made when he was happy with something. “Oh no.”

Weiss glanced around the room as quick as she could. Her father’s lawyer stood in front of him, leaning against the desk in a way that seemed almost lazy. There was a curve to his lips that was easy to see even from where they sat. “The defense looks far too smug.”

“I think...” Whitley’s voice shook for the briefest of moments, before he hastily composed himself. “I think Father is going to call for a mistrial.”

“What?” Winter scoffed out, looking down at him in disbelief. “That is _impossible_ , everything was done properly and above board, there is no way that—”

“No.” Weiss said quietly, struggling to fight the revulsion that made her stomach churn, she looked across Winter to her brother. “Whitley’s right.”

There was something pleased in his expression at her words, though the barest licks of panic soon overlapped that when the situation began to sink in. Still, Whitley played as though he was unbothered. “Wow, I never thought that I would hear something like that coming from _your_ mouth—”

She ignored him, turning back to her sister and hastening to explain. “There’s a conflict of interest; I arrested him under the purview of General Ironwood, who you work for—”

“—who was seen quite publicly trying to make a fool of Father—” Whitley continued.

“—and who has already made numerous fruitless attacks on the company.” Winter finished, grimacing. “Even so, that is _certainly_ not enough to call for a—”

“You’ve forgotten to take in account that half the people in this room have no desire to see Father locked away.” Weiss pointed out quietly, grimacing. They may not have approved of his actions, but imprisoning someone like him would be a nightmare and a half—it was much easier to give him a slap on the wrist and forget about the incident altogether.

Something inside her bubbled over in absolute frustration, she’d come that day to present whatever they asked of her, and had expected that over the next week or so she would have to come back and do it over and over again. She had _not_ wanted to attend a front row seat of her father obtaining the possibility for release. 

“We will not be called on to present our evidence this morning." She murmured. " _Shite._ "

Whitley startled at Weiss’ language, scowling over at her. “ _Calm_ yourself before they see—”

Winter placed a hand on his shoulder, silencing him, keeping her expression carefully neutral. “Even if this is postponed Father will _still_ be in custody of the Atlas military, General Ironwood—”

“— _must have lied to us_ —”

“ _Enough_ , Weiss!” Whitley hissed over at her, the scowl on his face deepening.

Weiss lifted a hand, pressing the back of it to her mouth and struggling to keep her shoulders from shaking. She’d been hasty to place blame on General Ironwood, but something had rubbed her the wrong way during the conversation that she’d had with him after the arrest of her father. He’d certainly _seemed_ earnest enough, genuinely wanting to help and put her father to justice, but there was no way of knowing if he’d known this would happen or not.

Could it be that the possibility of her Father escaping the consequences of his actions had just... slipped his mind?

She didn’t know what was worse, Ironwood knowing and not telling them or Ironwood not knowing and displaying an ignorance that she was not comfortable with. He was the _general_ , surely he had the means to know—he’d told her that, _“There is no way that he will get out of this, his betrayal will follow him into that courtroom, there will not be many on his side.”_

But he had been wrong, and Weiss had been naive enough to believe him—to allow the words of him and her friends to dull her. She couldn’t help but feel that if this had happened before she’d attended Beacon she would have noticed something far sooner.

“Weiss.” Whitley said, interrupting her thoughts, his face grim. “You’re supposed to _know_ better than that! Honestly, what did you expect? We can barely trust _family_ with family matters, never mind _General Ironwood_ —”

“Excuse me?” Winter cut him off, voice cold.

“He’s right.” Weiss felt like keeling over when her sister looked back at her, betrayed. Her voice became much softer, her expression kinder. “Winter, you know _he’s right._ ”

And Whitley _was_. General Ironwood may be a good man, he may have their best interests at heart, but there was no way to guarantee that he was as desperate to put their father away as they were. It was a family affair after all, why would Weiss leave it to someone outside it?

Winter’s expression soured. “Ironwood has been _nothing_ but—”

“Just because _you_ project onto him doesn’t mean the rest of us do.” Whitley interrupted her quietly.

Her sister recoiled from him as though she’d been slapped.

Weiss faltered for a moment. She agreed with Whitley, something that shouldn’t have been so surprising but _was_. The desire to comfort her sister was there but... what would that accomplish? There was no way of telling how exactly Winter would take her clumsy attempts at comfort. Not to mention they couldn't have this argument right now, not in public—no one might know they were there yet, but none of them had ever been particularly good at keeping their voices down.

Weiss glanced out at the courtroom again, her heart heavy, and her eyes settled once more on Verdant. She was close enough for Weiss to see her wink.

“Whether or not General Ironwood is genuine in this doesn’t matter right now—" (She ignored Winter's glare) "—we need to figure out how to fix this.” She began, tearing her eyes away from the mercenary and forcing herself to face her siblings. “Favors, do any of you still have—”

“I have enough low level ones to inconvenience the defense, get any other requests they make lost.” Whitley said, chewing on his cheek.

Winter thought for a moment. “And I can make things hard on the military side of things, they’ll have a difficult time attending to Father; perhaps with little meetings it’ll be harder—”

“I hate that we need you to do that.” Weiss whispered, closing her eyes. “How unlawful.”

“We have no choice.” Whitley said, shooting Weiss a withering look. "Would you rather Father escape, o' mistress of morals?"

“Just because I don't like it doesn't mean I don't understand.” Weiss grit her teeth, trying not to physically express her frustration more than that. “I will use what I have left to obtain information, we have plenty of evidence to get him out of the family—” She paused. “ _Oh._ ”

“What?” Winter asked, her brows furrowing.

“Mother can disown him.” Weiss murmured breathless. “If we could convince her to do it—”

“He’d lose favor with some of the old crowd.” Whitley said, blinking. “That’s genius, if he wanted to use boons—”

“He wouldn’t be able to do much with them in terms of something like this.” Winter murmured. “He’d just be a wealthy man, no longer a Schnee... he would have influence through money but none through any real prestige.” She sighed, leaning back into her seat and rubbing at her mouth. “There’s one issue, only about half of the nobility still use favors as proper business currency; if we expose ourselves to the wrong person—”

“Weiss.” Whitley interjected. “You said you can get a hold of Verdant?”

She glanced to where she’d last seen her, only to find that she was much closer than before, her ears wiggling on the top of her head. Eavesdropping. Verdant winked again, and this time turned to walk away. “...I may be able to, yes.”

“Good.” He said, looking relieved and slumping back into his chair. “The conversation I overheard between Calypso and Father has a use; when you go digging for information make sure to educate yourself on common courtesies of the code.”

“Calypso?” Winter hissed out in surprise, “You can’t trust that... that _sn_ —”

“If you call her what I think you’re going to I won’t speak to you until you rectify it.” Weiss glared.

Winter blinked, and then shifted in her seat uncomfortably, almost as though she was sheepish. “I was thinking of the expression, not her... person. I’ll do better, it was irresponsible for me to speak out of turn, however you can’t pretend like the risk that she won’t double cross us isn't there.”

“We’ve no choice.” Whitley said sternly. “She can be our guiding compass if we use her correctly.”

“Right.” Weiss agreed, despite the fact that the way he had put it had left a bitter taste in her mouth. The Lady Calypso would help them if they went about it right, but there was no guarantee that she wouldn’t have her own agenda. They’d have to be smart about everything they said to her.

What a most exhausting affair.

“We absolutely can not back out of this once started.” Weiss began quietly, looking at her siblings, her face molded into something serious. “No take backs, no safety nets; there is nothing that can stop us once we start, is that understood?”

Winter blinked, the tiniest bit startled by her resolve, “Weiss—”

“ _Is that understood?_ ” She repeated herself with more force.

“I hate this.” Whitley mumbled to himself. “I _hate_ —”

Weiss silenced him with a single look. “We’ve no choice.”

“We’ve no choice.” Winter echoed after a moment.

Whitley eyed them both, grimacing, before bowing his head. “We’ve no choice.”

The trial started, and all three siblings watched, their faces pale, as their father did exactly as they said he would.

* * *

[ _After_ ]

Weiss spent the walk up to the manor quietly briefing Ruby about who they were about to talk to. She made sure to go in depth in what business the Calypso family practiced, and Ruby hung on her every word. After all, the woman they were about to talk to was responsible for nearly every improvement for weapons in Atlas, following in her great grandmother's footsteps and pushing for improvement wherever she could.

While Calypso often encouraged science, there was no doubt that her company's strengths were in the more... _offensive_ creations, though they never dabbled much in dust for any other reason than minor experiments for their weapon parts.

Dust was Schnee territory, after all, just like most weapon manufacturing belonged to Calypso.

“Madam Schnee.” One of the doormen grinned toothily at her, bowing low, his pale green hair sticking at odd angles under his hat. “It’s awesome to see you again.”

“Hello, Hans.” She greeted, smiling at him softly. He was only about eighteen, and already he was making a promising future for himself as a huntsman. Calypso often drifted down into Mantle, finding teenagers or adults that held exceptional abilities and offering to sponsor them in an academy of their choosing.

He had chosen Atlas, though he worked as Calypso's doormen to provide for his family.

She knew a lot about Hans, considering the fact that Calypso had asked a favor of the Schnee family to get him a proper teacher about dust. He was rather gifted with it, and Weiss had been curious to see how far he could go.

He hadn't disappointed.

"You aren't with Sir Schnee this afternoon?" Hans asked tilting his head a little curiously. He blinked for a moment, flushing. "I shouldn't have asked Madam, it's just that you so rarely come here with fellow guests—and the good Sir is usually the only one to accompany you."

"It's fine, Hans." Weiss said, though her smile grew a bit tighter. "This is Huntress Ruby Rose."

"Er, hello." Ruby greeted.

"A huntress?" He asked excitedly, green eyes gleaming.

"Hans." Another one of the doormen chastised, voice gruff.

"Ahh." He shifted, rubbing at the back of his head. He looked like he wanted to say sorry, but instead shot Weiss a sort of kicked puppy look.

"Perhaps she can answer your questions at another time." Weiss said, amused, and turned to face Ruby. "Hans goes to Atlas Academy."

Ruby blinked, opening her mouth to question, but was cut off by Hans receiving his instructions. He nodded, pressing his ear piece, and smiled a little wider at the two as he clasped his hands together and prepared to speak.

“Lady Oceana will be right down,” He explained, “For now you have to wait in the hall outside her office—I trust you know the way, but I have to send someone with you.” His smile turned sheepish, and for a moment a bit of fang slipped from his lips. 

“That’s quite alright, Hans.” Weiss nodded, fighting the urge to smile. Calypso may be a lot of things, but it said a lot that she allowed him to call her by her first name.

The poor boy looked very much relieved, and suddenly Weiss wondered just how much irate nobles and politicians he’d had to deal with on a daily basis. She cringed a little. That sounded _awful_ , especially considering his position, she at least received _some_ respect—he probably got little to none. 

He sent them off with another one of Calypso’s servants, the walk deeper inside the manor devoid of all conversation. The building was shrouded in golds, blues, and earthy colors. It was a lot less grandstanding than the Schnee Manor—lest statues and tapestries—but it still managed to be a great deal warmer. Everything was a mix between elegant and comfortable, handsome furniture and polished surfaces but also vases filled with daisies and daffodils.

They were nothing unexpected to Weiss, but Ruby was drawn to them almost immediately, her eyes widening when she realized that they were real. “How do they grow up here?” She asked quietly, brushing her fingers along the petals. “They need the sun.”

Weiss smiled a little, looking down at the flowers knowingly. “Lady Calypso has a bit of a green thumb, I suppose.”

The servant leading them snorted at that, but straightened up and gestured to a hall. “I trust you know which door, Madam Schnee?”

“Yes, of course.” She nodded.

They bowed their head, dipping a little, and quickly left Weiss and Ruby in the middle of the hall. 

“Follow me.” Weiss reached out hesitantly, tugging on Ruby’s sleeve, only to nearly jump in surprise when she found Ruby absentmindedly slipped her hand in hers.

It was warm, her hand, their fingers lightly intertwined—stark against the marble floors. Her heart beat unsteadily, and it felt like an eternity before she could even bear to look up at Ruby, who was holding her hand—who had squeezed it gently for a moment before absentmindedly rubbing her thumb against her palm. She knew that this was not something unusual to her, knew that physical contact was something she expressed easily with those she cared about; but it was still so odd for Weiss to be reminded, after everything, of the place she had in Ruby’s warmth.

She knew that she would always appreciate her spot in Ruby’s heart, no matter how small, but each little reminder would surely cause her to keel over and die. How long had it been since something like this happened between them, how long had Weiss lived with cold hands without Ruby there to warm them?

She shook off the thought, blinking back up at Ruby—who was now smiling encouragingly at her, head tilted and her eye sparkling in mirth. So she knew what she was doing, Weiss thought with sudden scowl, Ruby had always been on the more playful side—even if it didn’t occur to her before that Weiss still got so easily flustered by simple acts of affection she’d only continue out of amusement.

“Are you alright?” Ruby asked happily, somehow sounding perfectly oblivious despite the clearly impish curl to her lips.

“Fine.” Weiss mumbled, turning away and beginning to lead her to the door, “It’s not that far—you didn’t have to grab my hand.”

Ruby hummed thoughtfully, her thumb still rubbing at her hand. “I mean, I think it’s more fun this way.”

“Fun this way?” Weiss repeated, coming to a stop in front of Calypso’s door.

“Yeah.” Ruby grinned, “I haven’t seen you get that embarrassed since school.”

Which of course only served to make Weiss feel even _more_ embarrassed. She averted her gaze, crossing her arms. “We aren’t here to tease me, thank you, we’re here to see Lady Calypso.”

A bit of Ruby’s joyful expression faded, something more serious in her eyes now. “You know a lot about her.”

“Everyone does.” Weiss said back to her, raising a brow. Ruby sounded as though she was suspicious of something, as though she knew that Weiss was keeping something from her. That served to make her feel on edge. It had been quite a while since they had the chance to talk in person, and though the calls once a month had been nice surely they weren’t enough to make Weiss so readable to her, right? 

Weiss frowned a little, tilting her head as Ruby continued—her old partner not quite looking at her.

“You managed to get us a meeting with her right away, and you're friendly with the doorguy, Hans.” Ruby noted quietly, her voice soft and somber, carefully letting go of her hand.

_Why did this matter?_

“Of course he knows me.” Weiss began, adjusting the cuffs of her sleeves, inadvertently flashing the small snowflake cufflink, trying not to let the odd chill in her palm get the best of her. “I’m a Schnee.”

“Weiss.” Ruby said, chastising. 

“Oceana and I have known each other for quite some time, though our...” She couldn’t find the right word. “We are familiar with each other.”

_Familiar._

Well that was certainly _one_ word for it. Would it perhaps be more accurate to call them business partners? Or perhaps acquaintances? Neither of them seemed to fit, considering just how much power Calypso had, how much they both gained from being in work with one another. 

“She’s your friend.” Ruby said, “Why didn’t you just say so, you nerd?” She was facing Weiss again and smiling, her eye crinkling and her lips curving teasingly. It was a smile that always seemed to serve to take her breath away, an easy way to lose her train of thought if she looked a little too long. 

Weiss coughed into her fist, averting her gaze. “Oceana Calypso is a lot of things.” She mumbled, ignoring the odd thundering of her heart. It was best to focus on what was happening now, on what they would do and who they would talk to. It was unwise to approach Calypso with a muddled head. “I’ll never quite know if _‘friend’_ is one of them.”

Ruby snorted. “Okay, edgelord.”

Weiss’ mouth pulled into a frown, rolling her eyes and sighing as she crossed her arms around her chest. She’d neglected to tell Ruby of something that she really needed to be careful about, not on purpose exactly but... well, certainly not on accident. “And one more thing.”

“Yes?” Ruby hummed, and had to twist her body a little to properly look down at her, the eye patch getting in her way.

Weiss smiled up at her, but it was a great deal less genuine than the others before. “Whatever you do, _don’t_ say thank you.”

Ruby blinked, staring at her blankly. Confusion curled in her lips, a frown beginning to furrow her brows as she looked at her. “What do you mean?”

“We don’t have the time for an in depth explanation, but trust me when I say you do _not_ want to thank anyone here.” Weiss explained, grimacing. She didn’t know if it was such a good idea, dropping a bomb like this on Ruby right as they were about to speak to Calypso, but it wasn’t a good idea to allow Ruby to fly in blind. 

There was no keeping her old partner from the darker side of the Atlesian Aristocracy, no stopping the judgement that would surely come, but was Weiss really selfish in wanting her to remain the same in Ruby’s eyes? She didn’t want to be cold or uncaring, she didn’t want to be cruel—not to Ruby. Was it really that selfish?

(Yes. Yes it was. To think otherwise would be deluding herself of a fundamental fact, and the very idea put a bitter taste in her mouth.)

“Hold on a sec.” Ruby said, frowning in confusion. “What do you mean don't say ' _thank you_?’”

“People can hold it against you, Calypso may be a... business partner, but she _will_ use all she has to make sure this ends up in her advantage, don’t give her more ammunition than she already has.” Weiss explained a little hastily, glancing at the door they were expected to enter soon. Any moment now Calypso would ask them to come in, and then there was no going back. “Oh, and don’t apologize—I don't... just be careful when you speak, Ruby.”

“Weiss—” Ruby began, only to be cut off by a call from inside the office.

“It’s time to go.” Weiss said quietly.

Ruby was staring at her like she was someone unrecognizable, her mind working a mile a minute, before she nodded—looking awfully grim. It would be no surprise if Ruby pieced together exactly why Weiss had waited so long, and even though she despised when people tried to so blatantly play games, she followed Weiss into the study.

Oceana Calypso was sitting behind a surprisingly modest yet handsome wooden desk. Her office was a similar coloring to the manor, but it was considerably darker in color and atmosphere than the brightness of nearly everywhere else. Behind her there were bookcases filled to the brim with what Weiss knew to be an assortment of works in the categories of politics, science, and entire law books. 

Hanging on her walls were various photos and shelves that had odd little knickknacks and items that she'd accumulated over time. There wasn't much, considering, but the little she had certainly painted a fine picture of her person. Beside one of the shelves, hanging in between it and the bay window, was a small, tattered old painting. It was of the Lord Calypso before Oceana, her father.

Keeping it there like that, practically forgotten and shabby when compared to the other items in its midst, was practically an insult.

(Not that Weiss could really blame her.)

Calypso's smile was blinding, a contrast to her dark brown skin as she leaned leisurely back into her leather seat, leaning against the palm of her hand. Her golden colored blouse was rolled to her forearms, matching the scales that climbed up the sides of her throat and kissed the edges of her cheeks. She was a beautiful woman, her dark coiled hair fell across her shoulders in thick braids, golden cuffs accenting her hair. Her dark eyes glittered when she caught Weiss looking.

Oceana Calypso was a faunus, and she held Atlas in her fist with a single minded ruthlessness that served to make even the most prejudiced of nobles tremble in their well tailored suits. 

“Well hello there, darling, it’s been quite a while hasn’t it?” Calypso smiled, all teeth, and it was obvious from the fangs that slipped from her mouth that she was in a much better mood than Weiss was. Her gaze was cool and unreadable despite the otherwise open aspects of her expression, and it set Weiss more an edge in her presence than usual. 

She knew something.

(That shouldn’t be unexpected, Calypso made it her _job_ to know everything, but there was still that knowing glint in her eyes that Weiss had never trusted.)

“Um.” Ruby started, twitching awkwardly and fiddling with her gloves. “Weiss?”

She promptly unfroze, bowing her head and keeping her voice low. “Oceana.” Weiss kept her face pleasantly polite, looking up at her through her lashes and slowly lifting herself back up. “It’s only been about a week or so.” 

“Still, it’s as though a century has passed since the last I saw that adorable little face of yours.” Calypso pursed her lips after a moment, her eyes narrowing further, mouth curling into a smug, knowing smile. “You only call me by my given name when you want something.” And then, just because she could. “ _Snowflake_.”

Ruby twitched at the nickname.

Weiss pursed her lips, ignoring her old partner in favor of meeting Calypso’s gaze and smiling charmingly. “Would you rather I call you something different, Oceana?”

“Oh no, darling.” Calypso smirked behind her hands, leaning forward on her desk and looking between her and Ruby for a moment. “My name does sound oh so _wonderful_ coming from your mouth, don’t you think?” She sighed dramatically, as though she was dreadfully forlorn and wistful. “Sounds like a song, coming from those lips of yours—and you’ve _always_ had the most beautiful singing voice.”

Weiss couldn’t quite help her snort. “Of course, Oceana.”

“ _You know I never lie._ ” Calypso said in Old Atlesian, her words light but her meaning weighted. 

“ _I know you never could_.” Weiss responded immediately, protocol making the phrase slip from her mouth. 

They watched each other for a moment, the atmosphere a great deal heavier than before. Weiss stared, keeping her gaze cool and unaffected, this moment was important—she had to make sure that she knew exactly how important this meeting was, there was no other way to succeed if they were not taken seriously.

Finally, Calypso sighed, leaning back into her chair and smiling wryly at Weiss. “Why do I have the feeling you’re going to tell me something I should be worried about?”

“Because you’re a smart woman.” Weiss admitted, “One of the smartest I’ve ever met.” She was not lying, even if Calypso's ideology of some of the old ways held her back in some aspects, she more than made up for it in terms of backup plans.

Calypso rose a brow, absentmindedly pulling on her bottom lip with her thumb, slowing her finger to a stop on her chin as she stared. There was something a little accusing in her eyes. “Then the people around you must be quite stupid.”

Weiss shrugged, “They can’t afford telling the truth, they make things more complicated than they need be.”

“Sounds familiar.” She noted, tilting her head expectantly.

“That’s because it is.” Weiss said without skipping a beat.

Calypso’s lips quirked into a much more genuine smile. She gestured to the chairs in front of her desk, just as beautiful as her own. Even footing. “Please sit, I won’t bite.” 

Weiss nodded and sat, gesturing for Ruby to do the same. Ruby watched, hesitating for a brief moment, but quietly slipping into the chair.

“Are you calling in a boon?” She asked her, expression smoothed out into something a tad more curious than before.

Weiss paused for a moment, thinking. The more insurance they had that Calypso would help them the better, but she still had to try—Whitley would never forgive her if she just gave in. “I believe that you’d be interested in the information regardless of favors.”

Calypso tilted her head, braids falling into place past her shoulders. “A wonderful way to avoid the question, I think.”

She couldn’t help the amused twitch of her lips. “You know I can never lie to you.”

“I’d crucify you for it.” Calypso agreed.

“Of that I have no doubt.” Weiss snorted, bowing her head a tad dramatically, she always enjoyed it when Weiss played along—Calypso enjoyed banter, it was no doubt one of the reasons she kept Verdant around.

“So, will you?” She asked, straightening in her seat, looking a great deal more professional than before. 

“...third level.” Weiss breathed after a moment, fighting the urge to avert her gaze when Calypso’s eyes widened every so slightly.

“Quite serious.” She murmured, leaning back, the barest hints of a frown on her face. She knew that Weiss would not ask for a third level favor for nothing. Of the ten levels, the both of them each had a couple of seventh or sixth level on each other; they didn’t often go down the ladder unless it was important.

“Yes.” Weiss agreed with a soft sigh. “It’s likely not something you’ll already know.”

“I don’t like your tone.” Calypso said her smile fading slightly.

She grimaced apologetically, but continued on without another sign of her discomfort. “It’s true, we were blindsided—I’ve bet if you’ve heard anything it’s only been whispers.”

“Hmm.” Calypso’s frown only deepened, and for the first time seemed to genuinely think for a moment. “I don’t like that.”

“Neither do I.” Weiss agreed, knowing better than to feel relieved. There was no telling if that meant she would help them or decide to look into it herself once she had the information. She was not quite done negotiating yet.

“Is this a favor?” Calypso questioned after a moment, dark eyes flickering to Ruby from Weiss then back again. “Whatever she’s offered you must be quite valuable, if you’ve come to me for it.”

Weiss stilled, so that’s what she had on her. It wasn’t a surprise that Calypso would recognize her old team member, not with their past, but it was still a little jarring. “You must know who she is.”

“Yes.” Calypso agreed honestly, an easy smile on her face, making the dimple in her chin a tad more pronounced than before. “But she’s not said a word since the conversation started.”

Ruby didn’t move, her arms remaining crossed as her eye narrowed, but other than that did nothing—letting Weiss continue and choosing not to say anything. She must have understood how important it was to her mission for the meeting to go smoothly. Without Calypso's input, things would be a great deal harder.

“I’m not in the business of making things complex with old friends.” Weiss explained quietly, her mouth a hard line.

Calypso let out a soft laugh, eyeing her knowingly and winking. “Something else, then?”

So she knew then, or at least suspected. 

_Of course she did._ Weiss thought, inwardly grimacing. How exactly Calypso knew somewhat where her feelings lay where Ruby was concerned was a bit of a mystery. The only blatant action of affection had been done out of her eyesight, and though there was a possibility that Calypso could have heard, Weiss doubted it.

Was it perhaps instead how steadfast she'd become when Calypso had tried to rope Ruby in conversation?

Either way, it caused a sour taste in her mouth.

She leaned into the back of her chair, running a tired hand through her bangs, pressing them over her forehead and taking a moment to breath before letting her hand fall. “You are a cruel woman.” 

“No, just an honest one.” Calypso pointed out, smiling. “I can afford it.”

“That you can.” Weiss laughed weakly, and then closed her eyes, sighing. She could only take the risk and hope it wouldn’t come back to bite her later. “There have been experiments.”

Beside her, Ruby went very still. It was the most obvious sign of discomfort that she’d displayed throughout the whole meeting, but Weiss (no matter how much she wanted to) couldn’t stop and ask her if she was alright. 

“Experiments?” Calypso asked, and the happy tinge to her expression was beginning to seep away.

Weiss nodded, “Infection, corruption, the pools—”

“The pools...” She hummed, averting her gaze and turning to glance out of her bay window. It was a sunny day, a rare commodity to the otherwise cloudy skies of Atlas. “You mean the ones you’ve told me to stay away from?”

“Yes.” Weiss agreed, ignoring the way Ruby shifted.

Calypso hummed, but still would not look at her, eyes remaining fixed on the garden just outside her window. “I see.”

“You don’t know anything.” Weiss said, her stomach churning.

“Whispers, like you said.” Calypso admitted, turning back to face her, eyes serious. “Verdant will know more.”

Weiss almost deflated on the spot, her chest aching as she pressed a hand to the area just above her heart. “That’s too big a cost.”

“You have her favor.” Calypso pointed out.

Weiss snorted, “Only once.”

“She’s a business partner.” She continued, and an almost playful expression bubbled up onto her face. It was nearly fond. “You still do have the coin with you, don’t you? Sepia would be _so_ dismayed if you lost it.”

“Of course.” Weiss closed her eyes up tight. Adding Verdant into the problem would only improve Weiss’ chance of success, if she really was going all in to help Ruby then contacting her would be the way to do it. There was only one problem, the second that Weiss used up that favor, there was no telling what would happen—not to mention it’d be giving up one of the most important boons she’d ever received. 

She’d held onto that stupid coin for _years_ now, would she spend it—just like that—on something that Ruby needed done? 

Yes, yes she would.

_(Was that ever even a question she had to ask herself?)_

She resolved herself, opening up her eyes again and nodding. “I’ll contact—”

“Weiss.” Ruby’s voice cut her off quietly, she’d leaned over, gently taking her wrist in her hands. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret.”

She blinked, staring at her for a moment quietly. “I would never regret doing this for you.”

Ruby smiled, rueful and knowing. “I _know_ you, I know that face—don’t sacrifice the big things for me.”

Weiss faltered, and Ruby took that moment to move her hand from her wrist to her palm. They were holding hands again, and something traveled up her arm and down her spine. It would be a bad idea to be doing this in front of Calypso, to have a disagreement like this in front of her—no one else would ever dare. It didn’t help that Ruby was touching her, their fingers interlocked in a way that made Weiss feel a little dizzy; she was still so unused to this.

The touch almost burned, like something was bubbling under her skin, tiny pinpricks of _something_ impossible to identify. She swallowed the lump in her throat, looking from where their hands connected and then back up at Ruby, hoping to find an explanation in her eyes.

_Don’t._ Ruby seemed to be telling her, gazing at Weiss imploringly. _Don’t do it._

And who was she to refuse?

“Ah.” Calypso said, a soft sigh escaping her mouth. “So that _is_ why you’re here.”

“You didn’t know?” She asked her quietly, turning from Ruby to face Calypso again, though making sure not to let go of Ruby’s hand.

Calypso pursed her lips, shrugging. “I had my suspicions.”

“You are a cruel woman.” Weiss laughed out, averting her gaze so she didn’t have to see what was waiting in her eyes.

“An honest one.” She chirped in response, before sending her a bit of a disappointed look. “Though I must say it’s a shame.”

“Is it really?” She raised an eyebrow in disbelief as she tried to look for any insincerity in her gaze. Weiss already knew that she wouldn’t find anything, but she couldn’t help but try just in case. 

“But of course! You’re quite the catch, and you’re one of the only other nobles who’s faithfully followed the old ways.” Calypso paused, shooting her a wink. “Well, who has followed the old ways in my company.”

Weiss bowed her head. “ _You know I never lie._ ”

“ _I know you never could._ ” She smiled in response. “Well, to an extent of course.”

She let out a laughing sigh. “Third level?”

“Fourth.” Was the response after a moment.

Weiss scrambled a little, thrown off for a moment. She hadn’t expected Calypso to be lenient, not with this, fourth was still an important favor of course—but to give up third like it was _nothing_ , well, either she had something planned or she was being sentimental. Weiss had a feeling that perhaps it was a bit of both. “Oh Oceana, you don’t have to—”

“Allow a woman to bestow a gift with no strings, Snowflake.” Calypso waved her words away easily enough, smiling at her charmingly.

Weiss snorted. “Well, there are still _some_ strings.”

“Funny.” Calypso said, pursing her lips to prevent herself from laughing. “I won’t bring in Verdant, but some of her people will be investigating—that’s unavoidable, you know that.”

She sighed, there was no guarantee that Verdant might not hear that Weiss was looking into this with Calypso. The mercenary wouldn’t do anything about it, but she’d be awfully curious, and it was always better to deal with a bored Verdant than anything else. “I understand.”

“Good.” Calypso nodded, before taking a moment to pause. “Weiss?”

“Oceana?”

“I’d be very cross with you if this information ended with you dead.” She said bluntly, raising an unimpressed brow, pursing her lips, and leveling her with a stern look. “It would put quite the wrench in my plans, as I’m sure you know.”

Weiss coughed into a fist to keep from laughing, “I’ll certainly do my best.”

Calypso sighed, pushing back her chair and rising from her seat, walking slowly toward her window, her back to them. “You know, before I learned of the pools I assumed your word of warning was out of malice.” She murmured, almost too quiet to hear.

She gripped Ruby’s hand a little bit tighter. “As is fair.”

“Mhmm,” She hummed through a laugh, “See, I had heard of the infamous Weiss Schnee and her legendary descent into darkness.” Calypso looked back at them over her shoulder, and not for the first time in the meeting Weiss felt the harsh lull of dread.

“I’m not exactly infamous.” She said easily, cocking her head a little.

“Not to the people who matter, no.” Calypso said after watching her for a moment, turning to face them entirely and sitting easily on the seats of her bay window. The meeting had taken a turn, and Weiss didn’t know if it was for the better. Calypso shot her a smile. “But to those in power, well... you tend to make yourself _quite_ the little nuisance.”

“None of this is news.” Weiss said to her carefully.

Calypso smiled.

And everything fell into place.

“Not for you, no.” She said before Weiss could interject, turning to look at Ruby and smiling, though it was with noticeably less warmth. “Miss Rose.”

Ruby jumped in her seat, jerking away and accidentally dropping Weiss’ hand. “Uh, yes?”

Calypso smiled, and it shifted into something a little more genuine. “Do you know exactly what your old partner’s been getting up to lately?”

“Oceana.” Weiss warned quietly.

“Oh, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Calypso cooed, clasping her hands together. “I rather think your little _revolution_ is quite the accomplishment.” 

She frowned, tensing in her seat. “I’m not _starting_ a revolution.”

“No.” Calypso let her smile and hands drop. “You’re only _funding_ one.”

“It’s not my place to dictate the lives of people I’ve never known.” Weiss responded, and fought the urge to stand. She straightened herself in her chair, crossing one leg over another and folding her hands over her lap. She could play cool and unaffected, she’d been doing it for a lifetime, but for some reason it was always harder when she knew Ruby was around.

“Oh I do so agree with that statement.” Calypso said, brushing the back of her fingers up her scaled neck slightly. “It really isn’t your place—if anything it’d make more sense if I was on the up and up.”

“Aren’t you though?”

“Perhaps.” She laughed, her expression radiating an easy amusement. She strolled leisurely back to her seat, elegantly setting herself down, her smile not once faltering. “Which brings me to our _lovely_ little favor.”

Weiss braced herself, taking a soft breath. “Yes?”

“An allowance of Verdant and her cohorts to escape unscathed.” Calypso said, and Weiss felt herself freeze. “I know how you and your... _brother_ must present yourself to the world, but this takes precedence.”

“The roles we fall into for what we desire.” Weiss murmured, thinking of how she was forced to prevent herself. She bowed her head, closing her eyes tight. It should have been no surprise that she’d known something, but Weiss had still been caught off guard. 

That _couldn’t_ happen again. 

(It wouldn’t.)

“Quite.” Calypso was more subdued than usual, but there was no mistaking the absolute seriousness in her eyes. “Reign in your little nuisance, and we have a deal.”

Weiss sighed, “Whitley would never—”

“Unless... you’d rather reach out to Verdant yourself?” Calypso asked slowly, raising a brow and tilting her head.

She grit her teeth and hoped that Whitley wouldn’t be too angry with her. He’d been planning for _months_ , and Weiss had intended on for the most part ignoring what he was cooking up. “My solicitor will be in contact with yours, the contract should be drawn up in three days time.”

“Wonderful.” Calypso clapped her hands together, an expression of finality. “Do I need to make you wait, or will you behave?”

_“You know I never lie.”_

_“I know you never could.”_ She eyed her for a moment, before nodding. “You’ll have your information by the end of the day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yayy!! a little bit of hand holding to make all the politics easier to stomach
> 
> if anyone was confused, there are ten levels of 'favor' with ten being the least important and one being the most important. weiss and oceana get along pretty well when you take away the fact that oceana could probably make things a great deal harder for the SDC—but weiss is constantly aware of that fact and thus acts appropriately. also this chapter was like 2000 words longer than it should have been, but i really didn't want to cut the conversation between weiss and oceana short, it was important to the plot
> 
> anyway, i personally love miss oceana calypso very much, even though she's giving weiss a bit of a hard time
> 
> next chapter: whiterose conflict!!! in both the before and after lmaoooo


	5. by the sky we stand on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the before, Weiss and Whitley have a loaded conversation.
> 
> In the after, the aftermath at the Calypso estate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the fact that it's been over a month.... rip

[ _Before_ ]

Weiss and Whitley wait outside together on the steps, not close enough to be huddled together but not far enough to be unfamiliar. They kept their faces forward, not once glancing at the other, watching and standing together quietly. Winter was not with them, deciding to stay behind and get a head start on the favors they needed.

It wasn’t a very comfortable silence, their shoulders lined with tension as they waited for their respective rides. Whitley would be going back to the manor, something that had already set them all on edge, but there was no getting around it. In the end, they were only thankful that their father wouldn’t be there any time soon, a fact that Whitley had been obviously relieved by. Weiss wanted to find a way to ease the silence, to make it so that the two of them weren’t so stubbornly gazing away from each other, but she didn’t know how.

 _Would it even be worth it to try?_ She grumbled to herself internally. _Everything said sticks to him—like a hedgehog or porcupine, with words getting caught in his quills._

She almost laughed at the comparison, moving to cough into the palm of her hand.

Whitley side-eyed her, as though he knew what she’d been thinking, and then sighed. He straightened his tie, clearing his throat and then positioning his hands folded behind his back. “There’s a couple things I don’t understand.”

Weiss blinked for a moment, surprised that he was initiating conversation. “What?”

"You didn't attend the arraignment." Whitley noted. "I didn't either, of course, Mother insisted that I stay home while she went—she said that only Winter and the General were there."

She crossed her arms around her chest. "I wasn't notified."

"I see." He murmured. "The General—"

"Did not inform me of the date." Weiss said. "I learned of its existence a day after when Winter told me of it."

It had stung, that nobody had bothered to tell her what was happening in regards to her father. The fact that she'd not been able to attend the trial where all his charges were read out loud to the court made her supremely unhappy, not only had she not been able to see the looks on the faces of those in business with her father, but the fact that she'd not been notified had left her with a sour taste in her mouth.

“Then before that, at the dinner party.” He continued without skipping a beat, and though his vice was soft there was something unmistakably sly about the way he spoke, as though he meant to manipulate her into something or another. She knew that was just the way he spoke sometimes, but she knew better than to dismiss his tone entirely.

She fought the urge to suck in a breath, swallowing the lump in her throat and leaning back against the pillars of the courthouse. She wasn’t ready for wherever Whitley wanted to take this conversation, but it wasn’t like she had much of a choice. “Alright?”

“You were alone.” He said after a moment, and if she closed her eyes she could almost pretend that he sounded worried, loving. “You were alone today, as well.”

Weiss’ eyes fluttered open, “I don’t—”

“You cast me away.” Whitley said quietly. “And they cast _you_ away.”

Weiss blanched, finally turning to face him, her eyes wide. “No, that’s not—”

“Weiss, I don’t understand.” He said, and though he was still looking forward his eyes flitted to the side. He would not fully face her, but she would know that he was looking. “You are alone, the same as I am.”

She could almost believe him. It was right there, she could grasp onto the hook that he was casting, could impale herself onto it without a second thought. She was _alone,_ wasn’t she? She’d been alone in _Atlas_ for a while now, her team had been pulled through the ringer and she’d popped out of the end of it utterly and entirely, _alone._

Then her head cleared, and the only thing she felt outside of sadness was almost pride in the way he had so easily picked up on something that affected her greatly. It was subtler than the last time he had tried it, disguised in words of honey—words of, _“We’re in this together, you and I, so why bother with anyone else?”_

He’d make a great politician someday, if he wanted to become one.

Regardless, she knew that he was not trying solely to get her near him. It might be a part of his motivations, but she sincerely doubted it; it was more likely that this was to the advantage of him, more of her attention meant that it was less likely that their father would succeed.

“You aren’t alone.” She said very quietly, already knowing that he would not believe her, but trying to convince him anyway. “Not with... Not with me here, not anymore.” Weiss swallowed the lump in her throat, imploring him to believe her. _“By the sky we stand on, I swear it.”_

A beat passed.

He turned his head to her, his expression unchanged except for the slightest widening of his eyes and puckering of his mouth. Whitley stared, and even though the weight of her words was not lost upon him, he still looked at her in absolute disbelief. “I see.” He murmured. “I don’t believe you.”

“I can’t hold that against you.” Weiss smiled weakly.

They stared at each other, and the moment was loaded with an awful heaviness. Weiss felt that there was the sky pressing itself down to their shoulders, and though she couldn’t tell how her brother was dealing with it, she could feel her collarbones beginning to crack. How awful it was, to be burdened by similar things but so clueless as to how the other was feeling.

Weiss felt a brief pang of loss, the longing to find something to connect them to each other hitting her in the chest and ringing around her rib-cage.

“I wish you would—hold it against me, I mean.” He admitted to her after a quiet second, wrinkling his nose, the words leaving his mouth as though he genuinely thought them true. “It’d make things remarkably easier if you were just... _simple_.”

Weiss eyed him, her mouth twitching downwards. “Would it really be easier?”

“Absolutely.” He agreed without skipping a beat. “We tend to default to hatred, you and I, anything else can be... _foreign_.”

“Maybe for you, it has been.” She said quietly, looking away and trying to ignore the dry feeling in her mouth.

Whitley tensed beside her. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

“Just that I’ve grown up a little, darling brother.” She murmured, smiling at him. Though the motion was weak, it did not falter in genuineness, and she could tell he was taken aback. “Though I shan’t ask you to follow in my path until you see what’s at the end.”

“Oh?” He narrowed his eyes, tilting his head. “And what is that exactly?”

Her lips quirked upward. “Perhaps I’ll tell you one day.”

“One day?” Whitley pressed.

“Well,” She began nonchalantly, “you can’t exactly show someone something you've never seen before.”

He stared at her for a moment, before releasing a surprised snort. The action seemed to surprise them both, and Whitley cleared his throat, his cheeks flushing. “I should think not.”

Weiss stared at him for a moment, a hesitant smile beginning to rise on her face. She looked away from him, settling back against the pillars and allowing his slip in composure to go unmentioned. She was careful not to glance at him, but she couldn’t hide the curve of her lips. 

They watched the area in front of them, both content to wait in the silence for their respective rides. It wasn’t exactly a companionable silence, nor was it very comfortable, but it was still better than what they’d had before. Weiss hoped that it would stay that way for a little bit longer, that the relief of tensions would stick on to them; but she knew better to hope for anything when it concerned him. In the end, she was right—because standing at the bottom of the courthouse steps was her partner, smiling hesitantly up at them both.

She felt Whitley tense up a little beside her.

“Weiss?” Ruby called, hurrying upwards and coming to halt a step or two away from them. Even though she was higher above ground Weiss was barely taller than her at this point, something that wore on her slightly. “Hey! I came as fast as I could, I hope everything went alright?”

“It’s...” Weiss trailed off, looking away from her. “Complicated.”

Ruby blinked, perplexed, but before she could open her mouth to continue, Whitley was snorting.

“Ah, this is your team leader, correct?” He asked Weiss, smiling almost lazily. “I believe we met once, though it was more a greeting than any official meeting.”

Weiss pursed her lips a moment, watching the way her brother watched them both. She took a step to stand beside Ruby, if only to make it easier for him to look down on them. “Yes.” She said, a warning in her tone. “Whitley, this is Ruby—my partner.”

Something in Whitley’s eyes flared.

Ruby smiled, perfectly welcoming and jovial, though Weiss could tell that she was nervous. Perhaps it was because of what had happened at the manor, or the way that Weiss had talked about him, but she was the slightest bit wary. She was still entirely willing to take a chance on him, if her broad grin had anything to say on the subject. “It’s, uh, it’s nice to meet you—”

“One of the acquaintances who left my sister alone, yes I suppose it’s a _delight_.” Whitley said, his voice slathered in saccharine sweetness. It was clear that he meant to cause problems on purpose, and though Weiss couldn’t quite blame him, she could certainly be annoyed by him. He bowed his head, almost theatrically. “Not to mention one probably responsible for her... _impalement_.”

Ruby’s smile became fixed, and Weiss stared at him for a moment in astonishment. 

She had not expected him to mention that to Ruby. She hadn’t expected him to mention it, _period_ —but it seemed that he was pressing on whatever soft spots he could find. 

“Whitley.” Weiss began, her voice a whisper. “You _must_ know that isn’t how it is.”

“I suppose everything looks like abandonment from the other side.” He commented simply, reaching up to fiddle once more with his tie, tugging on it absentmindedly. Her eyes trailed the movements, aware of the slight tremble of his fingers. “I’m surprised you don’t know that, considering... well, just about every member of our family.”

Weiss cringed. “Whitley—”

“Miss Rose.” He said, turning back to Ruby and narrowing his eyes. “I would like you to think long and hard the next time you use _my sister_ as a _stepping stool_ —”

Ruby gaped, caught off guard by his sudden shift in targets. “I didn’t—”

“Whitley.” Weiss cut her off, keeping them from looking at each other. “Please.”

Her brother froze, the darkness in his expression seeping away. “Oh I do so hope that was a slip of the tongue.”

“I’m afraid it wasn’t.” She said quietly, swallowing the lump in her throat. “I suppose you’ll just have to deal with that.”

“For _her_?” He wrinkled his nose, and though it seemed that any true animosity had faded from him, he could not stop himself. “Sister, I will not lie to you and say I’m doing this out of the kindness of my heart, but I would think that you would be just a tad... annoyed, with someone who coerced you into—what was it again? Breaking and entering?”

She stared at him, smoothing out her expression, eyes boring into his own. “Things change.”

“That has become disgustingly apparent.” Whitley sneered, finally reacting more obviously than before as he crossed his arms tightly in front of his chest. He couldn’t quite rid himself of the traces of emotion on his face, seeping into his words disrupting the smooth flow of his voice. “But honestly, waltzing back into the manor like that? Not something someone in your position would ever... _want_ to do.”

Ruby’s mouth pulled into a hard line.

Weiss fought a grimace, reaching out to gently grip Ruby’s hand—a grounding motion for them both. They stood together, their hands interlocked as they watched him quietly for a moment. Weiss sighed, “Now you’re just being malicious, Whitley.”

“Anything for you, my ever-so lonely sister.” He said with a cold smile, leaning slightly away from her. 

She trailed the movement with her eyes, and wondered to herself if he thought she meant to move towards him after that. Did he expect to be struck? Or perhaps yelled at? Weiss _hated_ to disappoint him, but she would not be stooping so low. “Don’t you mean lovely?” She asked him quietly after a moment.

His lips took a wicked turn. “We both know that either works.”

“How...” She paused, and a ghost of a smile made its home on her lips—an expression of an emotion long since proclaimed dead, a wisp of what it once was or could have been. “...cruel of you.”

Whitley seemed to sense her change in mood, tilting his head almost as though he was imploring her to share, or acknowledging what had shifted feelings. He hadn’t, obviously, the motion had just been a part of his programmed behavior, what he had picked up from watching their father act inviting for his whole life. 

“I’ve learned from the best, haven’t I?” He asked, and it seemed a response to what Weiss was thinking, but it soon dawned on her that was not what he meant. The dismissive twirl of his fingers and jerk of his chin told her a different story, one she wasn’t so inclined to read into.

Weiss looked away for a moment, gathering herself and attempting to compose herself. Whitley would know he’d gotten to her, but she’d never allow him to see it—if only because she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. Her brother didn’t know her well enough to pick up on all her micro expressions, but her partner was _trained_ to. 

Beacon had always made a point to show that you have to _know_ and _trust_ who you were working with, and supported actions that involved teamwork and harmony in hunting teams. Not all hunters joined a team after graduation, but it was important that when they left they at least knew what to do if a situation ever forced them into forming one. It was a smart move, lone wolves were all well and good (and Weiss meant that sincerely, different missions suited different people) but if the situation called for it knowing how to work with others was vital.

It took her awhile to come to this particular conclusion, and she hoped that it would be an opinion she kept with her for as long as possible. Regardless, partners were important, the _team_ was important—and being able to tell what was wrong and what to do was mandatory.

Which meant that Ruby had noticed the slight pull of her mouth before Weiss even recognized what she’d been doing.

Ruby's head turned to look at her brother once more, her eyes more critical than before, she did nothing however, instead shooting Weiss a quick glance before looking away. It dawned on Weiss that Ruby probably didn’t know how she was supposed to be interacting with Whitley, and was going to follow her lead. 

Weiss smiled, just a little.

Whitley watched them both with a pronounced look of disapproval, if Weiss didn’t know better she would have assumed he was about to say something as trivial as ‘ _gross.’_ “You should be proud, Weiss.” He scowled, quite effectively ignoring Ruby and winding up to say something that Weiss knew would not just be a simple insult. “It’s not everyday a little brother looks up to his sister.”

 _No._ She thought. _Not simple at all._

Weiss felt herself go cold all over. “ _Whitley_.”

“A step too far?” He continued. “I suppose that _you_ would know all about those.”

Weiss could only stare, watching the way that he watched her. Finally, she took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment to gather herself before looking back up at him. “I know you feel as though you must hurt me to feel better about yourself, and I know it isn’t working.”

A flash of easily recognizable rage made its way onto her brother’s face, his sneer growing more pronounced. _“You. Don’t. Know. A. Thing.”_ He hissed through gritted teeth, jabbing her shoulder with every word he spoke.

“You’d be surprised.” Weiss said, not so much as twitching. She gestured to the curb, where a recognizable sleek white company car had pulled up. “Go, your ride is here.”

He quickly composed himself, slicking back his hair with a hand, coughing, and then straightening his tie. “I’d say it was a pleasure, but I’ve never been particularly fond of liars.”

“Neither have I.” Weiss admitted quietly, aware of the way his eyes drifted to where she held Ruby’s hand, who was watching the interaction with furrowed brows. “Goodbye, little brother.”

Whitley didn’t respond, shooting them both one last glare before stalking off toward the car.

* * *

[ _After_ ]

“You did that on purpose.” Ruby said once they were outside the manor, walking toward the car that Calypso would send them back in.

Weiss watched her warily out of the corner of her eye. It was the first thing that Ruby had said to her after the meeting with Calypso, and from the sound of her words it seemed as though Weiss was in a bit of trouble. She knew that there would be a chance that Ruby would not approve of the comings and goings that came in things like this, a reason why she had been reluctant to allow her to accompany her—but Ruby had been insistent, and Weiss had been weak.

(But Weiss being weak in regards to her wasn’t exactly news.)

She pursed her lips, reaching up to fiddle with one of her cufflinks. Any idea of how to soothe the issue between them eluded her. “Ruby—”

“I don’t know why.” Ruby continued, cutting Weiss off effectively and eyeing her. She had to turn her head a little to properly look at her, the eye-patch obstructing her gaze.

Weiss knew that Ruby would learn how to maneuver with it, but made a mental note to do some research to help her anyway. Perhaps one of the security guards would have some tips—she’d ask Sun if he knew anyone later. She sighed, shaking the thoughts from her head and repeating her name, “Ruby—”

“Leaving me hanging like that...” She cut Weiss off again, the look on her face pensive. “...you did that on _purpose._ ”

Weiss inwardly grimaced, her face only just managing to remain impassive. “Not... entirely.” She settled on, bowing her head. “I should have considered something else.”

“Weiss.” Ruby chastised.

“I’m sorry.” Weiss said, and despite herself the words slipped through her mouth more than a little desperate. A lump rose in her throat, it felt so strange to be saying something like that after years of living in Atlas. She coughed a little, looking Ruby in the eye and hoping that her message would come across properly. “I won’t do it again.”

“I just want to know why you did it in the first place.” Ruby admitted to her after a moment, pausing right before they reached the car. Her brows were furrowed, her eyes downcast; the look on her face the perfect picture of confused frustration. 

Weiss released a soft sigh, hurrying to open the door for her, but Ruby didn’t move to sit down.

“Aren’t we... you know...” She struggled for a moment before finally settling on, “You can _tell_ me things.”

 _Can I really?_

The thought slipped into her mind before she could stop it, her insides seeming to freeze when comprehension dawned on her. This was no new question, Weiss had been keeping things about herself and her life a secret from her old team for years. Only Blake had even a hint of what was going on, and they only talked so much. There was no reason for it to be such a big deal, it was a perfectly reasonable question, Weiss knew, no one would fault her for thinking of it. It had been so long since she’d last seen Ruby after all, and if this was how she’d reacted to a meeting that Weiss had considered relatively _tame_ —

_No, wait._

That wasn’t what Ruby was complaining about, of course she’d never be comfortable in manipulative Atlesian politics that was _always_ a given and Ruby had made some peace with that, it was the fact that _Weiss_ had done manipulating that bothered her. 

Despite herself, defensiveness was the first thing she felt.

“Calypso is...” Weiss struggled to explain herself for a moment, “...not someone I can endanger myself or anyone I care about in front of.”

Ruby blinked. “What?”

“She’s a wonderful woman, truly, but her ruthlessness is of no question—if I get in the way of her agenda, she would not hesitate.” Weiss paused, considering the validity of her statement before reluctantly retracting some of it. “Well, maybe she _would_ hesitate a bit, but in the end she’d certainly go through with what she had planned—however grudgingly.”

Ruby stared at her for a moment, disbelief plain as day on her face. She laughed, but the sound was choked and nervous, before rubbing her hand over the uncovered part of her face.

Weiss wondered if she’d said something wrong.

“Okay, okay so...” She took a deep breath, nodding her head as she tried to rationalize whatever she’d heard that was odd. “So, you didn’t tell me everything, and you dropped a bomb on me at the last second because...?”

“It would keep you quiet.” Weiss admitted quietly, and it became almost unbearable to continue to face Ruby as she was, but she forced herself to continue to look her in the face. “Work like this is usually done alone.”

“And that’s what you needed—me quiet.” Ruby sighed, crossing her arms around her chest and chewing anxiously on her bottom lip.

Weiss’ eyes followed her movement, gaze drifting to her mouth before she caught herself. Her mouth twitched downward as she met Ruby’s eye once more, brushing off her actions to focus more clearly on what she was saying.

“Just _tell me_ next time.” Ruby finished empathetically, not noticing Weiss’ brief lapse of focus.

Weiss winced, taking a hesitant step toward her. She couldn’t find a way to make this make sense to her, “Ruby—”

“I’m not... I’m not one of your employees, or one of these... these _nobles_ of yours that have to be manipulated at every turn so that they behave.” Ruby cut her off, shifting uncomfortably, walking past Weiss and slipping into the open door. “I’m _me._ ”

Weiss stared for a moment, bowing her head and closing the door behind Ruby, moving around the other side to sit inside. She had to make this better somehow, clearly she’d made an error—she had to rectify it. “You’re right.” The words slipped from Weiss’ mouth the moment she sat down beside her. It had been instinct, but that was no excuse. Not with Ruby. “I’m sorry.”

Ruby’s brows furrowed, and she opened her mouth to say something else, before she paused. Suddenly, the look was wiped from her face, her cheeks darkening slightly. “Um.”

“What is it?” Weiss asked, clamping down on the urge to look down.

“You told me not to apologize to anyone here.” Ruby began slowly, staring at Weiss with an odd expression. “But you just did that to me... twice.”

“Yes.” She agreed.

“Isn’t that... shouldn’t you...” Ruby looked stumped, her head tilting to the side as she tried to puzzle out whatever riddle her mind had concocted. “Is it because you think I won’t use up a favor?”

“It’s because you deserve an apology.” Weiss said to her quietly, keeping eye contact with her. “If you must make me do something, I’d gladly do it for you, as is my penance—but even so, the words mean more than what comes after, in this case.”

Inwardly, she cursed herself. 

She didn’t regret making the apology at all, only the words that had come stumbling out after it. _Too much_ , Weiss thought morosely, _that was a bit too much._

Ruby blinked, looking lost for a moment. “So...?”

“I’m apologizing.” Weiss murmured, “Because I shouldn’t have done it, and I realize that I was at fault, and _I am sorry._ ” She closed her eyes tightly for a moment, turning to face forward. The car began to move, and Weiss remembered quite suddenly that there was a driver inside too.She was only thankful that they couldn’t hear her, the dark glass window obscuring sight and sound from each other. 

Weiss grimaced, she wasn’t being as careful as she should have been, something that was beginning to become more and more apparent the more time she spent with Ruby.

“Oh.” Ruby said quietly. “Right.”

Something inside her chest twinged in pain. “What is it?”

“It’s just...” She began, a sigh on the edge of her words. Weiss looked over to find Ruby shaking her head, messy hair falling into her one visible eye. “Nevermind.”

“Alright.” Weiss said slowly, fighting the urge to reach out and flick Ruby's hair out of her face. She shifted in her seat, unsure if she should press or not. Her brain defaulted back to business, figuring that was a safe enough route to go, “Well, you heard Calypso—”

And then Ruby’s face twitched.

Weiss paused, and wondered if she’d done something she shouldn't have again. “Is something the matter?”

“I trust you, Weiss, really I do.” Ruby swore solemnly, turning toward Weiss and grabbing her hands, her thumbs pressing into her palms—rough and warm. “But can we trust her with this? You... you told her _everything_ almost immediately, like... like it was _nothing_.”

Ruby’s brow was furrowed, her eyes glittering, the seriousness etched on her face was something that Weiss had not quite seen in a while; and it was as utterly startling as it was enchanting. Weiss swallowed the lump in her throat, feeling overwhelmed by the sheer emotion she felt at facing Ruby in such a way, and tried not to let what was happening distract her from the _very important_ question Ruby was trying to ask her.

She liked to think she did alright ignoring the searing flame in her chest, flames licking at the edges of her heart and melting her rib-cage with half formed confessions of affection that burned on the back of her tongue.

But still, there was something so very _astounded_ in the way that Ruby was looking at her. Like the sight before her was as unbelievable as the fairy tales she'd been read in her youth. It made Weiss go more than a little still, maybe it was because she'd been so open with Calypso; maybe it was their closeness that had caught Ruby off guard. She'd gone in there thinking it was little more than an important business transaction after all, perhaps she'd not expected the playful words or amused looks.

Even then, it wasn't as though Weiss was especially _close_ to Calypso, and so she dismissed the thought entirely instead deciding to assume that it was because the mission was high priority. You can't just trust anyone, after all, so maybe that was what had her so bothered. Weiss nearly hit herself, _of course_ Ruby had been worried about the information—she'd been hesitant to even tell _Weiss,_ after all.

“You don’t like that I told her?” She asked, her mouth pulling into a line as she struggled to keep her face stoic. When Ruby nodded her head in affirmation, Weiss sighed, struggling not to sound condescending or to trip over her words. “Ruby in order to get the information she had to _know_ what to look for—”

“Well, yeah.” Ruby backpedaled lamely. “I just... I don’t _know_ her, Weiss.”

“I understand, but please trust that I _do_.” Weiss said to her softly. “She'll come through, I know it and I know _her_.”

Ruby stared at her for a moment, something in her expression flickering, before she let go of her hands, drawing back in on herself. She crossed her arms around her chest, averting her gaze. “Yeah, you know her.” She said, but it sounded hollow.

“Is that an issue?” Weiss asked after a moment, hesitating. “Ruby, I assure you that even if she doesn’t always seem like it, Oceana Calypso truly is a _fair_ person—”

“No, no, I’m sorry.” Ruby shook her head, waving her hands in front of herself in surrender. She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’m just... I’m being stupid.”

Weiss only frowned harder. Ruby _wasn’t_ stupid, she wouldn’t have reacted that way if there wasn’t a good reason. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s just... well you two seemed...” She stumbled over her words. “Familiar.”

“ _Familiar_...?” Weiss stared at her for a moment blankly. She took in the look on Ruby’s face, her cheeks darkened and her mouth pulled into that awkward little grimace that she never quite grew out of. Weiss softened as she looked at her, it was nice to see that after so many years some things stayed the same. 

“Yeah.” Ruby nodded, making a motion as though Weiss would understand it. “You know, _familiar._ ”

Weiss blinked, “Oh, you think we were romantically involved.”

She was surprised that it took her so long to pick up what Ruby had been trying to say, but she was even _more_ surprised that Ruby had wanted to say it in the first place.

Strange.

“Were you?” Ruby pressed after an awkward moment.

For a moment, Weiss only felt indignant. “Why would it matter?”

“So you were.” Ruby concluded, rubbing at her cheek.

“No, we weren’t.” Weiss corrected her after a moment, raising a brow and laughing a little in disbelief. “Oceana has always had a... smooth tongue.” She admitted with a tiny smile. “And so have I, but our back and forth doesn’t go much beyond that.”

“Oh.”

“Jealous, were you?” Weiss asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes and leaning back into her seat, crossing her arms over her chest. “Regardless, you don’t have to worry, Calypso never lets her personal life interfere with her business. That’s not to say she doesn’t have attachments, I’m sure she does, but she’s awfully shrewd; she knows better than to—”

“I wasn’t jealous.” Ruby blurted, her mouth falling closed the second the words escaped her mouth; her motions were abrupt. It was very clear that she had not meant to speak.

Weiss blinked. “Pardon?” 

“I wasn’t jealous.” Ruby repeated, a bit slower this time, and it was as though she had resigned herself to a specific kind of embarrassment.

“...that was a joke.” She said, very flatly. If Ruby was actually _jealous_ she didn’t know what she’d do, and she certainly didn’t know how she’d feel about it. Attempting to rationalize Ruby’s suddenly very odd behavior, she began to speak. “Are you alright, Ruby? If you like we can discuss this another time, you were very injured... should I take you to the hospital?”

Her face flushed. “I’m fine, Weiss.”

“But what if you have a concussion?” Weiss asked, and it was mostly genuine.

Her face flushed darker. “I don’t have a concussion.”

Weiss sighed, and turned away from her, leaning away and looking out the window—watching as they drove past the pale Atlesian buildings. She laughed, “You know, I hope that we don’t run into Verdant.”

“Verdant... I remember her.” Ruby murmured from beside her. “Didn’t she help you with your dad, way before?”

Weiss hummed in confirmation.

“Why do you want to avoid her?” She asked, sounding perplexed.

“If you reacted this badly to Calypso’s harmless and sparing flattery I dread the day you have to listen to Verdant.” Weiss said airily, watching Ruby from the corner of her eye. “That woman, a shameless flirt, honestly—it gets rather trying, though Calypso is fond of her, so there’s no avoiding it.”

“Do people just...” Ruby made an uncomfortable noise, “flirt with you?”

“When they want something.” Weiss admitted easily.

“So all the time then.” Ruby mumbled grumpily.

She winced, she’d only meant to be teasing her, but there was a line between them that she couldn’t see anymore. “What’s wrong?” Weiss asked her directly, looking back to face her. “You’re worrying me.”

Ruby shifted in her seat uncomfortably, rubbing at the back of her head. “Ah, uh sorry.”

“You need not apologize.” Weiss told her very gently, reaching out to press her fingers to her wrist for a couple long moments before pulling away. She wasn't very good at comforting people, she'd never had been, but she liked to think that she'd improved over the years. “It’s alright.”

“I was...” Ruby paused, staring down at the area where their skin had touched. “I dunno, it just... I just miss you.”

_Oh._

She felt it too, then. The long winding gap between them, so deep and dark, as though they stood on the opposite ends of different cliffs; facing each other but not close enough to make out the features of each other's faces. Weiss was not innocent in the construction of the wall between them, and she understood that she had a part to play in her own sadness when it came to Ruby, but it was news to learn that Ruby had felt similar.

She'd missed her.

 _Ruby_ had missed _her._

A lump rose in her throat as she tried for a smile, but it was of no use, her mouth refusing to so much as twitch upwards when Ruby was looking at her like that; so obviously impacted by the space between them.

“But I’m right here.” Weiss said, even though she had known well that wasn’t what Ruby had meant.

“Yeah but, things are different now, right?” Ruby asked her quietly, continuing forlornly. “It’s like, you went and started a whole new phase of life and I didn’t notice... I didn't get to see, and I don't know everything about you anymore.”

Her stomach dropped. “Hey, now.”

“No, I’m sorry; I’m being dumb.” She murmured, shaking her head.

“You often are.” Weiss quipped, though it wasn’t true.

Ruby flushed, wilting.

“But I think that, just this once, you make a good point.” Weiss hesitated for only a moment before scooting closer, reaching out and placing a steadying hand on her shoulder, the other moving to cup her face. “Don’t worry, darling," ( _the darling had slipped out and Weiss couldn't take it back, God help her_ ) "you have plenty of time to notice everything—if not now then most certainly later.”

They stared at each other, the atmosphere hanging heavy around them like rain clouds—threatening to spill over with one wrong move. Weiss found an old love in Ruby’s eyes, nostalgia and an odd aching sadness accompanying the pools of silver. 

“...do you promise?” Ruby asked her, leaning into Weiss’ touch. There was a pained look on her face, vulnerable and expressive in a way that Weiss had thought she’d never see again.

“Of course.” Weiss smiled, a small, crooked thing. _“By the sky we stand on, I swear it.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ruby, clearly jealous: i wasn't jealous >:(
> 
> weiss: do you have a concussion or something?


	6. flowers grow in sunlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the before, a meeting with Verdant.
> 
> In the after, the start of meetings in Mantle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not me writing all of this in like two days after it's been a while

[ _Before_ ]

“That was awful.” Ruby said faintly. “That _felt_ awful.”

Weiss didn’t quite know what to tell her. That interaction with her brother hadn’t gone very well (not that they ever really seemed to) but she felt a particular kind of guilt for dragging Ruby into it. Had it been so obvious that Weiss would not take kindly to any type of hostility toward her partner? Or had Whitley just been lashing out to all those who heard him? Neither of them felt correct, and Weiss (loathe as she was to admit it) was left scrambling.

The conversation with Whitley left her drained of all energy, she could hardly bear to stand.

“I—” She grit her teeth, apology on her tongue. 

“Hush now, it wasn’t your fault.” Ruby interjected, a comforting smile forming on her face. She could tell what Weiss was about to say before she could say it, and not for the first time Weiss felt vulnerable under her knowing eyes.

“Right.” She murmured, averting her gaze and flushing. It took her a moment, but she managed to compose herself, shooting Ruby a weak smile. “Well, that was my brother.”

“You look the same.” Her partner said, and the expression on her face was very clearly a teasing one.

Weiss balked a little. “Only our coloring.”

It felt odd to be told she looked like him. Their eyes and face shapes were so different from each other, Weiss’ rounder while his was thinner. She privately believed that he looked like their mother, his eyes the same shade as her own, his mouth always puckered in the same way as her. She couldn't quite say what else he'd picked up from that woman, but something in the back of her mind whispered that he was quite the imprisoned princess.

She shook the thought from her mind, and wondered for a moment what she herself might have picked up from her mother, but then shoved that deep, deep down. The fact that soon Weiss would have to approach her about her father settled heavily on her chest, a bitter taste in her mouth. She didn’t wish to see Willow Schnee, not yet at least, but what had happened left her with quite literally no choice.

Where would she even start with that? _Hey, mom, you know dad? Well he's probably not going to prison unless you disown him, requiring you to leave the house for once in the last eight years._

Ruby's laughter shocked her from her thoughts.

“I meant more the _expressions_ on the both of your faces, kinda like—” Ruby’s lips pursed and her brows furrowed, her shoulders straightening her eyes narrowing as she crossed her arms. “‘I am very rich, and I am very angry about it. But also I am very rich, and my shoes probably cost more than all your life savings put together.’”

“Haha.” Weiss laughed dryly. “Very funny.”

“I thought so.” Ruby said, sounding awfully proud of herself.

Weiss grunted.

Ruby’s face melted into something much softer. “What’s the matter?”

She didn’t say anything at first, her mouth pulled into a hardline as she struggled to find her words. As though sensing Weiss’ reluctance, Ruby reached out—gripping Weiss’ palm with one hand while setting the other on her should. Her touch was gentle, but strong; a sensation which Weiss would be incapable of ignoring even if she wanted to. It was always hard to talk about things that involved Weiss’ family, and she feared that would not change—but at least Ruby would be there to coax the words out of her.

Not thinking much about it, she leaned into the touch, sighing.

“Father has made things... difficult.” Weiss admitted after a moment, looking away. “The way things are going, there may be no major repercussions for his actions.”

“What?” Ruby asked, her eyes snapping wide open. “But we _got_ him—”

“Atlas is a cruel place, and not many genuinely wish to see him put away.” Weiss said quietly, closing her eyes. “My siblings and I are... taking care of it.”

“You’re... taking care of it.” Ruby repeated after her, voice tinged with something that Weiss didn’t have the strength to identify. “Okay, what do we need to do?”

She opened her eyes cautiously, aware of the lack of distance between them. “You want to help?”

“Of course!” Ruby said, as though it should have been obvious. 

And in retrospect maybe it should be, but Weiss had always been different in Atlas, the cold winds burning her cheeks and the stench of corruption clinging to her being. She was born in the city of hatred, the stink of false purity slathering the white and pale blue accents of the buildings that surrounded them as though proof of the city's honor. 

Or, at least, whatever was left of it.

Ruby watched her for a long moment when she didn’t respond, the hand on her shoulder moving up to brush against her cheek for a moment, before inevitably falling away as Ruby leaned back. She still did not drop her other hand, it was warm despite the cold. “You’re my partner, and this means a lot to you, _of course_ I want to help.”

“You—you don’t want to be involved, trust me.” Weiss stumbled over her words a moment, cheeks darkening. “But I will come to you if I need anything.”

Ruby frowned, but didn’t push, instead holding out the hands she wasn’t using and extending her pinky. “Promise?”

Weiss stared for a moment, caught off guard. Time slowed in Ruby’s eyes, and she could not help the smile that began to surface at the earnestness of her expression. Slowly, (cautiously) she lifted her hand and wrapped her pinky around Ruby’s. Her voice was weak when she spoke. “Promise.”

Ruby’s expression seemed to slacken with relief as she returned Weiss’ smile. “Good, now—”

“Oh, I do hate to interrupt a touching moment.” A teasing voice called out.

Ruby stilled, blinking as she turned to face the voice, dropping Weiss’ hands. 

Weiss went very still, her shoulders straightening as she forced an expression of casual indifference onto her face. She only just managed it, turning as she eyed the woman who had come up out of nowhere, only just managing not to cross her arms defensively over her chest. This was the second time that she’d met Verdant, and much like the first she’d been caught completely off guard. She hoped it wouldn’t become a trend. 

“I was wondering when you’d come tiptoeing around.” Weiss said finally, unable to keep her voice quite as unaffected as she had hoped. 

Verdant winked, her eyes crinkling. She was wearing her hood over her head, only just managing to hide her ears. “And leave you hanging? I could never.”

Ruby looked between them. “Um—”

“Ah! Where are my manners?” Even though her face wasn’t visible, it was impossible to hide the broad grin that seemed to form under her mask. “The name’s Sepia Verdant, call me Verdant.”

“I’m Ruby Rose.” Ruby said, a friendly (if hesitant) smile on her face. “I’m Weiss’ partner, it’s nice to meet—”

Verdant gasped dramatically, easily cutting off Ruby and making Weiss roll her eyes. “Oh darling Duchess of Dust, how come you didn’t tell me you were a kept woman?”

“We’re _huntsmen_ , Verdant.” Weiss squawked out, caught off guard by her words. She felt her cheeks color. “ _Huntsmen._ ”

“Well someone’s awfully defensive.” Verdant hummed. Something flickered in her eyes, and she sighed lethargically. Was everything she did so dramatic? “Not that it matters much, I only wanted to have a word... _privately_.”

“This conversation is going over my head but I think I understood that last part.” Ruby piped up with an uncertain laugh. She turned to Weiss. “Do you want me to stay?”

“I’ll catch up with you.” Weiss said softly. “Just... try not to stray too far.”

Ruby nodded at her, sending her a reassuring look before pretending to salute her. “Gotcha partner!”

“Dunce.” Weiss said fondly, watching as Ruby waved as she walked away. Reluctantly, she turned back toward Verdant, gesturing for her to follow to somewhere a little less... public. 

Verdant followed her happily enough, and soon they were effectively hidden behind some of the courthouse pillars. It wasn’t the subtlest of spots, but it gave good cover, and if she positioned herself the right way she could spot anyone trying to eavesdrop. The only issue was she couldn’t be sure if there were any cameras nearby, and her vision was a bit limited with the pillars in the way.

Finally managing to strike up the nerve to speak, Weiss turned to look at Verdant, her expression entirely unimpressed. “Is it too much to assume you were eavesdropping, Verdant?”

“That depends.” Was her easy reply, she was leaning back lethargically against a pillar, her arms crossed around her chest. Verdant tilted her head, eyes sparkling, and Weiss’ stomach churned in discomfort. It was unsettling, but Weiss knew that her best bet was to power through it. “Do you mean just now, or earlier?”

“Ah.” She said, not helping the sliver of dread that ran down her spine. “So both times then.”

“I can’t even begin to imagine the _evil_ little picture of myself that plays in your head.” Verdant laughed, the sound clearly a second nature to her. “It was only a little bit, milady. I can’t help it, see? I heard my name being said in the courtroom and wouldn’t you know it? It was the family _Schnee_.”

Weiss fought the urge to grit her teeth as she listened.

"It was only natural that my curiosity was peaked!" Verdant continued without skipping a beat. “I just had to know what you would say about me to your family, it’s an important step in any relationship to be mentioned to the ones close to us, y’know?”

“Yes, very funny.” Weiss crossed her arms around her chest, leveling Verdant with a stare. “I don’t suppose you overheard exactly what we were talking about.”

“I can’t give away all my secrets.” Verdant said, clearly chastising. “That wouldn’t be any fun.”

“Is that what you’re after?” She asked disbelievingly. “Fun?”

“Why? Are you offering—”

“I think not.” Weiss said almost immediately, recoiling a little.

“Nothing so scandalous! I am but a humble peasant in your presence! Besides, you _are_ a kept woman.” Verdant laughed again, and to hear it so often when discussing something so serious was unnerving. Weiss thought that Verdant was charming, sure, but there was something hidden about her—perhaps because of the way she layered herself up, or perhaps because of her odd way of speaking. One thing was for sure, Verdant was far more intelligent than she seemed to appear. 

Weiss watched her with uncertainty, privately thinking that the woman in front of her was the personification to _both_ the exclamation and question mark. “Right, er, you aren't quite correct but—”

“Lady Calypso _is_ interested in you, if you really have to know.” Verdant interjected, sounding so serious that the change in tone nearly gave Weiss whiplash. “She’ll probably be in touch.”

“So you _did_ hear all of our conversation.” Weiss murmured to herself, wanting nothing more than to be able to smack her head into the pillars. “Wonderful.”

“Ah...” Verdant wiggled her ears in her hood, looking uncharacteristically guilty. “Maybe a bit.”

“...I—”

“It’s best I get going, the boss lady is a bit impatient sometimes.” Verdant said, pushing herself off the pillar and walking slowly down the steps. Before she went too far she paused, as though considering something, before turning back to look up at Weiss. 

She watched her expectantly.

“A word of advice before I go.” Verdant began. “You should be careful waltzing around this particular ballroom, milady, I don’t think anybody wants to see you dancing with the wrong suitor.”

Weiss stared, a lump in her throat. “I’m beginning to learn that I despise you, just a little.”

“You aren’t the first, and I very much doubt that you’ll be the last.” Verdant laughed, and just like that her expression changed to the way it was before. “ _Au revoir_ , Milady."

* * *

[ _After_ ]

There is a moment, a single moment, where Weiss considered doing something very rash. It’s gone in a flash, the flutter of Ruby’s eyelashes and the hard furrow of her brow a reminder that time was still moving—that nothing had truly slowed down. She swallowed the harsh lump in her throat, standing in the doorway for a moment, frozen—before turning away to allow Ruby to tinker in the Schnee Forge in peace. 

She'd hoped that Ruby would have been finished working by now, that way she didn't have to look at her like _that—_ so consumed in her work that she was oblivious to the things around her. It was worse than that though, because Weiss had to _see_ her like that, covered in oil stains as she swapped out her original clothing for a spare workers jumpsuit, the front undone and revealing the shirt underneath. What was worse was having to see her emblem, embroidered clear as day, on the back of her partner.

_That was a personal thing, that was a personal thing, that was a personal thing—_

_How awful_. She thought dizzily. Logically she knew it wasn't exactly personal (all of the workers in the company wore some variation of the Schnee symbol on their uniforms) but it was such a jarring experience to see that on _Ruby._

Weiss hoped Ruby hadn’t noticed her entrance and fast departure.

Though she was a very well trained huntress, there were times in their past where Crescent Rose had been such a distraction that they had to physically obscure Ruby’s vision of her prized weapon in order to get her attention. Even then there were times Ruby had just kept on working, swatting their hands away as she continued, unbothered. Perhaps this had been one of those times, her old partner consumed by her work; not noticing the way Weiss had cowardly fled from the room.

Weiss halted a few steps outside the door of the forge, leaning against the wall for a moment to gather her wits. 

Calypso had kept her promise, had gotten her the information they needed as soon as she had learned it. It wasn’t much to go on, only a location of what might have been a lab, and part of a name— _Night._ Already, Weiss was beginning to feel uncertain. She knew the name, had heard it before in her youth, but she just didn’t know _where_ —and she was weary to ask Calypso for more than she already had. 

Whitley had thrown a fit when he found out what she had offered Calypso in exchange for information. He’d nagged her for at least two hours—making her help him alter his plan. _“This has been_ _months_ _in the making, Weiss! Changed all because you can’t keep it in your—”_

That was about the time Calypso called, the arrival of the info enough to give cause for her _very_ rapid departure.

Weiss’ stomach churned. She’d been standing outside the door for at least five minutes now, just wondering what she would say. Would it matter? Couldn’t she just... blurt out the information? Or introduce it factually and without feeling? It wasn’t as though Ruby particularly _cared_ how Weiss told her, only that she told her in the first place.

Resolved, Weiss summoned a bit of courage, making her way back to open up the door—

Only to bump right into something warm.

She blinked, pausing to slowly look up.

Ruby’s one eye blinked down back at her.

_Is she giving me a hug!?_

It certainly _felt_ like it, Ruby’s arm had caught her on reflex; somehow wrapped around her despite the fact that Weiss had been in no danger of falling. There was grease on Ruby’s cheek, and she smelled faintly of gunpowder and something metallic. 

“Um—” Weiss went very still, unsure of what movement to take. Every cell in her body was screaming at her to jump away, the places where Ruby was touching burning. It was as though liquid fire had been injected into her veins, bursting from the parts of her that was near.

_Too much._

Still, she couldn’t move, her body frozen as she forced her heart from her throat.

“Huh.” Ruby was staring, her eyes meeting Weiss’ before she moved away. 

Weiss felt relief surge through her, and crossed her arms around her chest as she scowled at the ground. “What?”

“Sorry for not moving right away.” Ruby said, grimacing apologetically, it became clear that she’d only just noticed Weiss’ panic. “I thought you would have jumped away or stabbed me with something—I was waiting... uh, for that.”

“Oh.” She interjected as her heart calmed itself. Weiss smiled up at Ruby, reaching out and patting her consolingly on her arm. It wasn’t much as far as physical touch went, but she felt the need to reassure Ruby what had happened wasn’t entirely her fault. “I could do both if you like?”

_Hands were easy_ , thought Weiss, _I can move them wherever I like._

It was everything else that she had a problem with now.

The corner of Ruby’s mouth lifted upward. “I mean, I don’t think I’d appreciate that very much.”

“Since when do I consider your appreciation?” Weiss quipped absently, moving her hand away and smiling.

Ruby laughed. “I think we’re both bad at this... all of it.”

Weiss didn’t know exactly what she was referring to, but puffed up anyway. “You might be, but I am perfectly capable of—”

“You say that like you didn’t just spend like... five minutes standing out the door waiting for me to finish.” Ruby looked at her pointedly, a smile on her face. “Very polite of you—” (Ruby narrowed her eyes) “—so you get how it’s _weird_ for me right?”

So Ruby thought she’d been waiting for her, _not_ that Weiss had panicked and ran away. She could live with that.

“I can be polite.” She said defensively. “I’ll have you know that I’m _quite_ the charming individual.”

“Can’t say I noticed.” Ruby retorted easily, before changing the subject. “Did you come back to rush me? Am I behind schedule for something?”

“Nothing in particular.” Weiss waved away her concern easily enough. “I only wished to tell you that Calypso has forwarded me something.”

“That was fast.” Ruby said, blinking. She sounded grudgingly impressed. “What is it?”

“A location—”

Ruby reached back and grabbed her scythe, putting it on her belt without another word. “Where?”

“Hold on a minute, dimwit.” Said Weiss, crossing her arms around her chest. “I wasn’t finished—and you aren't even dressed for a mission.”

"Maybe I was on my way to change." Ruby said.

Weiss leveled her with a look.

Ruby pouted."

“Okay, maybe I wasn't.” She bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, energy rippling throughout her body. It was clear that she was barely holding on from running from the room to pursue the lead. “I got kinda excited, Weiss! Can't blame me for that.”

“It may be the location of an old lab, so you should be cautious.” Weiss warned her seriously after a moment. “I also have part of a name—”

“Are you not coming with me?” Ruby interjected, pausing. She stopped bouncing up and down, leaving Weiss to feel the slightest bit concerned.

“I—pardon?”

“You didn’t say ‘we’.” Ruby explained. “You warned me like you weren’t coming. Are you not coming?”

She seemed disappointed at the prospect.

“I didn’t...” Weiss blinked, thoroughly caught off guard. She hadn’t expected this, even in retrospect it was hard to see where Ruby had gotten the idea that Weiss would join her. It was like she had asked Weiss to come along, and she’d been so cagey about the details in the beginning, was it really so out of character for Weiss to assume that if Ruby wanted her along she’d tell her that? “You want me to come with you? Ruby, I don’t—”

“Oh.” Ruby sort of deflated. “You’re busy?”

“ _And_ I only get the chance to go on a real mission every month or so.” Weiss added. It was rare that she had the time for such a thing, but she knew that as long as she kept her license to be a huntsman active she would have more room to act than if she didn’t. “Training in simulators here makes sure I'm not rusty, but it can't compare to the real thing; and Sun’s only managed to drag me into a handful of sparring sessions.”

“So... you _aren’t_ busy?” She asked, and it was almost hopeful.

Weiss could only stare. “I just told you I’d be deadweight, Ruby.”

“You didn’t say that.” Ruby protested, her brows furrowing as she crossed her arms around her chest. “Those words, wrong by the way, did not come out of your mouth.”

“Well not exactly.” Weiss admitted, still frowning. “Regardless, Whitley and I have... things to do. We’re travelling down to Mantle tomorrow, so you can come along with us if you wish to go right away.”

It was already far too late to go today, even if Ruby wanted to. Weiss hoped that she would wait, if only to give herself one more day of rest before she went out and did her job. She was unafraid of having to strap Ruby down to her bed so that she’d at least get a couple hours of sleep. The mission she was on was important, but Weiss was sure it could wait just a little bit longer.

“Aww, do you guys have a brother-sister meeting to get to?” Ruby teased, snapping Weiss out of her thoughts. “That’s so cute.”

“We’re going down for different reasons.” Weiss explained, fighting the odd blush that fought to rise into her cheeks. Ruby was lucky she didn't mention everything she got up to with Yang, especially considering that Weiss and Whitley were traveling for _business_ not because one of them stole a chicken or something. “I’m meeting with May, and then with a guild.”

“A guild.” Ruby blinked for a moment. “What kind?”

“...I have to do Calypso’s favor.” Weiss said, avoiding the question. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to keep the answer from Ruby forever, but answering direct questions with direct answers wasn’t something she was used to. “She got to me right away, it’s only right I do the same for those in her employ.”

Ruby’s expression didn’t exactly sour, but her eyes became a great deal more concerned. “You’re meeting with that lady... Verdant, right?”

“Not exactly.” Weiss said, and then hesitantly continued at Ruby’s expectant look. “I’m only dropping off a message—doing it now will give them more time to...”

“To what?"

“...flee.” She said the word quietly, voice uncertain.

“Weiss.” Ruby sighed out her name, fondness intermingling with the very clear worry in her tone. “What are you planning?”

“It’s not what _I_ am planning.” Weiss answered her, composing herself and gathering the nerve to look her in the eye. It was kind of hard to be serious when Weiss had to look at the oil smudges on her face. “Whitley has business to take care of down in Mantle soon, and he is preparing for it urgently.”

Ruby’s eyes narrowed, her gaze quickly turning calculating. “Does this have to do with that revolution Calypso mentioned?”

“What? I—no.” She said, caught off guard for a moment. The question was not an uncertain one, it was clear that Ruby had been waiting for a moment to bring it up. It was almost brilliant, catching her off guard with it, though Weiss knew that Ruby wouldn’t do that on purpose. ( _Right? Hush now, it was no use worrying._ ) “This is different. And I’m not _planning_ a revol—”

“No.” Ruby said, using air quotes, “You’re just _‘funding’_ one.”

She didn’t know how to tell her. “This—this is _not_ the right time for this conversation.” 

“Weiss,” She began, eyes serious. “What have you gotten yourself into? I’m worried, there hasn’t been something weird like this here since Iron—”

“Stop.” Her voice was stern, and even as it shook there was a strength there that had not been there before. She couldn’t deny Ruby her answers, that was not something that she could ever find within her, but at the very least she could delay the delivery. “I will tell you later if you wish to know, but right now we both have things we need to take care of—the airship leaves tomorrow morning at eight, get your things if you wish to go, and be there on time—” 

“Weiss—”

“—we _will_ leave without you.” And with that, she spun on her heel with a huff, doing her best to shove down the rampant guilt that ran through her body.

The night passed, all with the knowledge that she was keeping something a secret from Ruby weighing down on her shoulders. It made her struggle and stumble, as though the weight of the sky, of Atlas itself, had planted itself on her shoulders. The work was important, she knew that, she couldn't risk it being leaked to anyone outside of herself, her brother, and the very little she'd chosen to tell Sun of her endeavors. The heaviness was nothing new, she had gotten used to it after a long journey of readying herself for this movement.

How strange was it? How odd that Ruby had shown up, injured and smiling and easily walking through her door as though she'd belonged there, right as Weiss and Whitley neared the end of their plan?

She hoped, knowing full well she wasn't that lucky, that what Ruby was up to had nothing to do with what she was planning.

Weiss sat in the airship, waiting impatiently, her eyes glued to the open door. She knew that Ruby would not walk through, that she had surely gone to the lab in the night—at a time where Weiss was unable to tell her not to. It painted quite the picture, Ruby sneaking away in the night; as though she was some sort of... what? Scorned lover?

Just the thought of it made her snort. 

Logically, she knew that she could check if Ruby left by just asking one of the heads in security if they’d seen anything on cams the night before, but Weiss knew that she would not be happy with the answer.

So she waited, knowing full well that her old partner would not be flying with them.

“You’re in a bad mood.” Sun interrupted her brooding, absentmindedly adjusting the hood of his puffy jacket. He seemed to have fun twisting his fingers in the fur, a motion that drew her eyes immediately.

“What makes you say that?” Weiss asked him quietly, turning away from both him and the open door. 

“Feel it.” Sun shot back easily, pausing for effect. “In my _bones_.”

Weiss lifted an unimpressed eyebrow, fighting the way her lips threatened to turn upward. “Somehow, I don’t think that’s exactly true.”

“Shhh, Snow Empress.” He said, hushing her. “Let me check my bones—they will totally tell me why you’re so sad.”

“I’m not _sad._ ” Weiss spluttered, staring at him. She _wasn’t._

“It’s Ruby, isn’t it?” Sun sighed dramatically, pressing the back of his hand to his forehead, as though he was about to faint. “I knew it, the burden of knowledge really is too strong, I think you might have to put me down—my suffering is too much.”

“Ruby?” Weiss asked, ignoring everything else he’d said. “What does Ruby have to—”

Sun leveled her with a look.

“...yeah that didn’t sound very convincing to me either.” She finished flatly, crossing her arms and scowling at the floor. It was no use playing dumb with him, he could read her in heartbeat.

His face turned into something more concerned. “You worried about her?”

“Something like that.” Weiss admitted through a mumble, sighing before she signaled for the pilot to close the doors. “It’s been ten minutes, we should go before Whitley gets more impatient.”

Sun said nothing.

It was another few minutes before her brother walked out from the cockpit. Almost immediately he rose a brow, looking throughout the seats and only finding Sun and Weiss sitting together quietly. He moved forward then, sitting himself across from her and next to him, crossing his legs and watching Weiss shift uncomfortably.

Finally, he spoke. “I thought we were waiting for your betrothed.”

“Must you?” Weiss asked, grimacing. She was not unused to Whitley saying things of this nature, but she couldn’t handle them right now—she’d rather sit in silence until the ride was over and she had to go do her job.

He frowned, noticing her mood immediately and muttering. “I suppose not.”

“Ruby probably left in the night.” Sun added absentmindedly. “Like a superhero.”

“Some hero she’d make.” Weiss murmured, despite the fact that Ruby probably definitely already was one.

Whitley and Sun exchanged a look.

“Did you... get into an argument?” Whitley asked tentatively, his features momentarily softening. It was clear that he sympathized, even if he was a little awkward when he tried to talk to her.

Finally, Weiss sighed, leaning back into her seat and looking distantly at the ceiling. He would not like what she had to say next. “She asked about it.”

Whitley’s face paled. “You’re going to have to be more specific, our semblance isn’t mindreading.”

“Yikes.” Sun said, looking at Weiss with a furrowed brow. “Is it—”

“What we’re doing in Mantle.” She finished for him, fighting the urge to bury her face in her hands. 

“Weiss.” Whitley began very quietly. “I know... I _know_ that you _love_ her—” (Weiss flinched) “—but some loose ends must be _tied_.” 

_He'd used that word on purpose, the ass._ She thought as she fought the shaking in her shoulders.

“Ruby won’t tell anyone.” Sun said quickly, shooting Weiss a supportive look. “We know she won’t.”

_"You_ know she won’t.” Whitley shot back to Sun and then began to gesture at Weiss. “And what’s that count for when the testimony of the one who _actually_ loves her is unsure?”

“Shut up.” She snapped out, the sound a near snarl.

“How did she even learn of this?” Whitley asked her, his face going from pale to red in his frustration. “Loose lips in between sessions of—”

“Calypso is the one who planted the seed in her brain.” Weiss cut him off quickly. “She called it a revolution right in front of her.”

“Ironic.” Whitley murmured spitefully, crossing his arms over his chest. “She isn’t the one to usually _do_ the planting.”

“Yeah,” Sun agreed. “From what I know, she’s the type to encourage stuff that’s already there—like not the planter but the caretaker if that makes sense.”

It did. Calypso didn’t often enjoy the planting of her own seeds, it was too easy to trace them back to her so she mostly employed the use of people like Verdant. A puppet master, making them whisper into the minds of people and then coming in to encourage what had already been there. _They made quite the little team_ , Weiss thought bitterly.

Still, it was out of place for Calypso to do something like this. She’d not exactly been subtle about it either, and Weiss knew that if she wanted to she could have made someone slip Ruby a paper or some type of message. What was the use of this particular action? Weiss didn’t know.

“All this talk of seeds makes me think our fair lady has been spending more and more time with Verdant lately.” She murmured, looking up at Whitley seriously. “There’s a garden near her office, bigger than the last time I was there—greener too, with stronger plants.”

“So she has plans of her own in Mantle...” Whitley sighed, drawing the conclusion immediately. “Of course she does.”

“Or they could be involved,” Sun pointed out. “Verdant might spend a lot of time in the garden—I know I would, if I was her. Maybe Calypso wants her to be comfortable in her home.”

“ _Courting_?” Whitley asked, his voice going a little high at the thought, before pausing. “That’s... a fair point.”

“You don’t have to sound so surprised about it, bro.” Sun said with a laugh, slugging Whitley on the shoulder. “Besides, someone needs to remind you two that people have motives _other_ than world domination.”

He rubbed his shoulder with a roll of his eyes, “I’m sure Weiss knows that quite well, considering.”

Both of them shot her evil looks.

Weiss ignored them both. “Still, we can’t rule out the possibility. Oceana can want more than one thing, she’s very multifaceted.”

“You’d know.”

Weiss ignored that too.

“Still.” Whitley continued, after a moment, leaning back into his seat and closing his eyes as he tried to think it over. “I didn’t know the lady Calypso was someone who _wanted_ that kind of thing.”

“Courting doesn’t always mean romantic love—sometimes it doesn’t mean love in the first place.” Sun said quietly, before shooting the two of them a grin. “There’s been tons of people who have tried to seduce you guys without even knowing what you _looked_ like.”

They grimaced simultaneously.

“Let’s not.” Weiss grumbled. 

“I have to agree with my darling sister on this one.” Whitley added. “ _Let’s not._ ”

“Geez, tough crowd.” Sun laughed. “Hey, Weiss? You think Ruby will finally give in and kiss your face once she realizes exactly how many people propose to you on a weekly basis?”

“On second thought, I’d love to hear where this is going.” Whitley said, turning and shooting Weiss a cruel smile. “Well, Weiss? Do you have an answer for the poor man?”

“I’m going to kill you both.” Weiss retorted angrily, crossing her arms.

Her brothers laughed, knowing full well that she wouldn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a bit of conflict, laying down the groundwork for some OC lore, and just a little bit of squabbling siblings!
> 
> how weiss finds the time to be this gay even through all this is something that stays a mystery even to me


End file.
